Princess Charlotte isn’t a fan of Prince William’s beard.

It’s been one of the biggest talking points of recent weeks: does William’s beard rock or is it a royal disaster?

According to the prince, his daughter, Princess Charlotte was firmly in the latter camp – bursting into tears when she saw it earlier in the summer.

In fact the nine-year-old was so upset that he decided to shave it off. But then he decided to try and win her round.Asked whether his beard was going to stay and if his wife and family liked it, William laughed, saying: ‘The beard! Well Charlotte didn’t like it the first time.

‘I got floods of tears the first time I grew a beard, so I had to shave it off. And then I grew it back. I thought, hang on a second and I convinced her it was going to be okay.’

The late Queen famously didn’t like hirsute male family members so when Prince Philip, Prince Charles and Princes William grew beards while abroad with the Royal Navy, they all had to quickly shave them off on their return.

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It¿s been one of the biggest talking points of recent weeks: does William¿s beard rock or is it a royal disaster?

It comes as the Prince of Wales opened up about having the ‘hardest year in my life’ following his wife and father’s cancer diagnoses.

In a remarkably candid – and at times emotional – interview at the end of his official visit to South Africa he admitted the past few months had been ‘brutal’.

But the prince also said how hugely ‘proud’ he was of Catherine and the King for handling their health battles with such dignity and bravery.

He added that the Princess of Wales was now ‘doing well’.

Speaking in Cape Town yesterday, the future king covered everything from his much-discussed beard to his passion for ‘meaningful’ royal work such as his landmark Earthshot Prize environmental awards.

But it is was his response to how the past year had been for him as a husband, father and son that will move people most.