10 Pics Of Kate Middleton's Hair To Bring To Your Next Salon Appointment

For those drawn to classic, refined, and elegant aesthetics, Kate Middleton is the ultimate style icon. That goes for her famous wardrobe, full of clean lines and tailored to perfection, but it also applies to her hair game. Adhering to beauty guidelines from the Firm, she never turns to dramatic cuts or bold color changes, and yet she inspires trends with her simple, palace-approved hairstyles. 

Since she first married into the royal family in April 2011, the Princess of Wales has always had an iteration of the same hairstyle. She's never gone shorter than shoulder length, although she did experiment with a faux-bob updo in November 2017 that made waves without her even having to go near a pair of hair shears. Over the years, she's swayed between a side part and a middle part, usually landing somewhere on the spectrum between wavy and curly. And other than the odd highlight job, or Kate Middleton's "blondifying" hair color transformation move that ended up becoming one of 2025's hottest trends, she's stuck with her natural brown shade. But the subtle differences she does make to her hair can still transform her entire aesthetic, creating plenty of diverse looks that serve as inspiration for anybody taking notes. Whether she's wearing her hair super long and waved, shorter and curled with a killer blowout, or half-up and half-down with royal-coded accessories, she always looks sublime. 

The best thing about Kate's hair journey, for those who want to replicate her style, is that her go-to 'dos tend to be easy to copy. They're also adaptable to shorter or longer hair, since they don't rely on their length to land. Just bring the following photos from Kate Middleton's stunning hair transformation along to your stylist. 

In May 2026, Kate Middleton traveled to Italy on a royal visit, and while in Reggio Emilia, the princess rocked her favorite 'do. For most of the 2020s, her hair has been long with few layers, so she gave the heavy style some body with structured mermaid waves. Combined with a slightly off-center part and a warm ombré palette, this look was giving effortless. The key to looking princess chic like Kate Middleton is a bouncy blowout, but your stylist can also achieve this look with a curling wand.

Kate Middleton doesn't have to do much to turn heads, but the princess certainly had people talking in September 2025 when she debuted her lightest hair color yet. Practically bordering blond, her hair made headlines when she visited the Natural History Museum in London, England. She wore it with tighter curls than her usual style, and there might have been some teasing to create volume. Whether you want to replicate this exact look or not, it's a great example of how different a person can look with just a few subtle changes to their hair. 

She might be known for her elegance and timeless aesthetic, but sometimes Kate Middleton does tone down the formality of her hairstyles. At the Chelsea Flower Show in London, England in May 2023, the princess arrived with a very relaxed 'do that any stylist could create. With her hair parted to the side, she had loose curls woven in to just the ends of her long mane, and those seemed to be brushed out to amplify the laid-back aesthetic. 

Our jaws dropped when Kate Middleton walked the red carpet of the Earthshot Prize in Boston, Massachusetts in December 2022. Trading in her palace-coded hair for something more glamorous, she went with a chic and sleek combed-over 'do. Her ever-present loose waves gave the look body and volume, contrasting with the section near her right ear that was slicked back. Especially if you've been perfecting your earring stack and have some ear bling that you want to show off, this style is a winner.

Fittingly for a princess, Kate Middleton knows how to rock Rapunzel-inspired lengths, but that doesn't mean we don't love her shorter hair too. The Princess of Wales had slightly shorter hair, just past her shoulders, at the Back to Nature Festival in Woking, England in September 2019. With just the small difference in length, her hair looked so much thicker, which was probably amplified by her face-framing layers and other short layers throughout. The warm chocolate tone of her hair looks almost caramel in the sun, making it a perfect shade for summer.

We've never seen Kate Middleton with full blunt bangs (which are one of the hairstyles that can make your face seem rounder), so whenever she wants to serve even a glimpse of a bang, we'll take it. In December 2023, she visited the Evelina London Children's Hospital, of which she's a patron, and she appeared to have a long side fringe that grazed her left eye. This look was wavy rather than curly, though she did have more defined curls around her face, while the rest were straighter and brushed out. 

Even without her tiaras, Kate Middleton still looks like royalty, thanks to her hair alone. She nailed the brief in July 2017, on an official visit to Berlin, Germany, when she had her shoulder-length hair in big, bouncy curls. Unlike her more recent looks, this featured uniformity in its curls, and the perfectly centered middle part probably helped to achieve the regal vibe. To copy this exact look, ask your stylist for some subtle face-framing highlights just a few shades lighter than your base color.

The other rare time Kate Middleton ventured into bangs territory was in 2015. Her hair was shorter that December, when she visited the Anna Freud Centre Family School Christmas Party in London, England, so she had quite a bit of volume without relying on short layers. And seriously, Kate Middleton's curtain bangs are the only hair inspo you'll ever need. The side-parted bangs sat on either side of her forehead, framing her face well, while the flipped-in ends gave the whole look more glamour and intentionality. 

Mermaid waves are easier to pull off for most people, but every now and then, the moment calls for tighter ringlet-style curls — especially when you're royalty. Kate Middleton's half-up half-down curls at the 80th anniversary of VE Day in May, 2025 looked like they were copy-pasted from a fairytale. The flowing curls teamed with the pulled-back top created a simple yet classic 'do, and the timeless velvet bow really cemented it as princess-worthy. If you love accessories but feel a tiara is too much, take a page out of Kate's book.

From highly styled to totally effortless, Kate Middleton masters it all. In April 2014, the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Australia, and the carefree energy of Manly Beach seemed to inspire her simple blowout. She had waterfall layers that began just under her chin, creating bounce and volume even without a full curl in sight. The very tips of her mane may have been waved, but the beauty of this look lay in its simplicity and accessibility. It's still fit for a princess, but anyone can recreate it.