The Duchess of Cambridge is more than just a duchess. To beauty enthusiasts, she's kind of a hair icon. Trust us, since marrying Prince William and officially joining the royal family in 2010, we've followed her hair evolution closer than we care to admit — every bouncy blowout, every minor highlight and lowlight shift, every (rare) casual ponytail, and every single iteration of the side bun she's ever worn (and it's been many).
Although Kate has to keep a a somewhat strict royal beauty code, choosing polished hairstyles for her many official engagements and duties, this doesn't mean she can't have a little fun. Accessories and updos are both key to Kate's look. For official engagements, she prefers a classic chignon sometimes with the addition of subtle braids and twists to complement — not compete — with her various hats and fascinators. Her trick to keeping these styles perfectly in place? A good old hairnet. And if she's on slightly less formal outings, she sometimes goes for small accessories like pearl bobby pins or small velvet bows to jazz up her look a little.
When she's not on formal royal duties, she will let her hair down (literally) and often chooses big bouncy blowouts. Nothing seems to phase her beautiful blowouts, whether it's taking part in various sporting events or even giving birth; her voluminous waves always seem to stay perfectly voluminous and wavy, thanks to a team of expert hairstylists (and most likely a ton of flexible-hold hairspray).
Kate is truly the queen duchess of updos, blowouts, and tiaras. And in case you needed any more convincing, keep reading for a closer look at Kate's best hairstyles throughout the years.
For one of the final events of 2021, the duchess wore tighter curls than we typically see on her to attend the "Together At Christmas" Community Carol Service.
In a look we don't typically see Kate wear, for the 2021 Royal Variety Performance, she had tighter curls that were tucked behind her ear and swept over one shoulder, showing off her beautiful earrings and those powerful shoulders on her embellished gown.
To attend the London premiere of No Time To Die, Kate wore a stunning gold Jenny Packham dress and had an equally incredible intricate updo hairstyle to match.
For a special engagement marking International Day of the Midwife, the duchess wore a twisted half-up hairstyle for a relaxed yet sophisticated look. Kate's hair has grown out significantly since the 2021 lockdown and it looks like she's not getting a dramatic short cut anytime soon. We're really loving this longer cut on her.
For the announcement of a special collaboration in October 2020, the duchess wowed the world with her stunning hair and makeup. To refresh her look for autumn, Kate got a small trim and added threads of caramel colour to her natural brunette hue. She styled it in her signature bouncy blow out curls for the occasion.
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Kate Middleton's Strawberry Blonde Highlights, 2020
It seems that as soon as hair salons began to open at the beginning of July following almost four months in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kate jumped straight in the salon chair to get a fresh summery cut and colour. For the announcement of her involvement in the BBC's Tiny Happy People, she showed off her new auburn colour with strawberry blonde highlights. As for the cut, she opted for sweeping, face-framing layers with a long curtain fringe that hit right at her cheekbones.
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Kate Middleton's Curly, Side-Swept Updo, 2020
Image Source: Getty / Samir Hussein
For the annual Commonwealth Day service, the duchess completed her tonal crimson ensemble with a felt saucer hat designed by Scottish milliner Sally-Ann Provan that was decorated with English roses. To balance out the head-topper, she wore her hair swept (and woven, and twisted) to one side with the ends curled and pinned over her left ear — almost mimicking the shape of the rose petals above it.
For a royal trip to Ireland in March 2020, Kate wore her freshly trimmed hair in very loose waves, accessorised with a padded velvet black headband by designer Jane Taylor. The hairstyle not only completes her all green ensemble, but also keeps her hair from blowing in the wind. We love a practical and stylish duchess.
At an appearance in Leicstershire, the duchess changed things up with an elegant half-up style that we haven't seen from her in a while. Volume at the crown of her head kept the style from looking too severe, while the slight bend through the mid-lengths broke up the strict, linear lines of her coat.
For a charity outing during the festive season, the duchess stepped out with an enviable blowout that featured both bouncy volume and shiny, perfectly-shaped waves.
For a concert at the Palladium Theatre in London, Kate went for an unexpected middle parting and tight, shiny curls that started from the mid-lengths of her hair and went all the way to the very ends.
The fact the duchess has enviably thick, bouncy hair is no secret, but she really took it up a notch with this side-parted blowout for a royal appearance in November.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge stepped out for an evening event during the royal tour of Pakistan and for the occasion, Kate wore an equally elegant hairstyle to match her emerald gown. She wore a half-up updo with two pieces of hair twisted together and held in place with some grips at the centre-back of her head. It's a special hairstyle with the added detail, without being too polished.
The duchess stepped out for an engagement during the first week of October, with a new subtle hair change. She added a long, layered curtain fringe to her golden highlights, creating a face-framing definition for a pretty autumnal switch-up. Similar to Princess Diana, Kate prefers subtle changes to her hair so she doesn't take the attention away from the work she is doing. And possibly also because she doesn't want to commit to such a dramatic hairstyle change.
For Princess Charlotte's first day of school — aside from excitedly watching the family enter the school gates — we couldn't help but notice Kate's lighter hair. Again, much like Princess Diana, the duchess slowly lightened her hair over the Summer, resulting in very subtle golden highlights.
For Royal Ascot, Kate Middleton wore her hair low and off to side, folding and pinning it into an intricate updo that sat tidily underneath her sky-blue Philip Treacy hat.
Here's another example — at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in 2019 — of a seemingly simple updo that upon closer inspection is actually incredibly intricate. We love how not only does the shape of her hair mimics the shape of the flowers of her Philip Treacy hat, but how it also balances out the fact that the head-topper sits on such a sharp angle.
For a day out on royal duties, Kate decided to wear her hair in very loose curls, which can be achieved by wrapping medium sections of hair around a large curling iron, making sure the ends are touching the barrel as well.
The low side bun Kate wore for an Anzac day service included a little bit of everything. Look closely and you'll see simple plaits, the starting of a loose French braid, and an intricate combinations of loops, twists, and folds that kept her hair off her neck to make room for the structured collar of her coat.
For St. Patrick's Day, Kate wore the ends of her hair tucked up into a voluminous loop with the face-framing pieces of hair braided and criss-crossed at the back of her head. We don't know 100-percent what to call it except that it's basically a work of hair art.
For a visit to the National Portrait Gallery in London, Kate wore her classic bouncy blowout, proving that not only does it never go out of style, but that it never gets less, well, bouncy.
We don't really know what to call this hairstyle (a chignon? an updo? a hair sculpture?), but what we do know is that the low, tucked-up style is a go-to for the Duchess of Cambridge's many royal engagements.
For a night out at the 100 Women In Finance Gala Dinner at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kate wore a half-up ponytail featuring tighter curls than we're used to seeing from her.
Middleton's intricate updo from the BAFTAs is so complicated that we don't know where to look first. The style is unique for the Duchess as all of her hair is brushed back, away from her face — all the better for showing off her pearl-drop earrings.
At the end of 2018, Kate's cut featured lots of long layers that started at her collarbone. The choppy cut added even more volume to the duchess's already thick hair, and made it easier for the ends to bend in nicely inwards — framing her heart-shaped face beautifully.
For a royal visit in Cyprus, Kate wore her hair in a half-up ponytail. And while the style is less pristine and polished than we're use to seeing from the Duchess, it's still clear she's had a smooth blowout beforehand.
There's nothing quite like a simple chignon on the Duchess of Cambridge, particularly if it's paired with a huge pearl-and-diamond-studded tiara. This tiara, in particular, is special as it not only was a piece that Princess Diana frequently wore, but it also has been in the royal family for over a century. According to Town & Country, the tiara seen here was made in was made in 1913 or 1914 for Queen Mary using pearls and diamonds already owned by the monarch's family, and is inspired by a tiara owned by Queen Augusta of Hesse-Cassel (another Duchess of Cambridge and one of Queen Victoria's aunts) called the Cambridge Lover's Knot.
When you've got a hat as beautiful as the one Kate wore to Princess Eugenie's wedding in October 2018 (designed by the royal's favorite milliner Philip Treacy), a simple low side bun is the ideal choice.
The twisted ponytail was enough to wow us, but its' really the dainty black velvet bow that makes this one of our favourite hairstyles Kate has ever worn. And while you can easily raid your holiday decoration box to create this style, we have a sneaking suspicion that this velvet bow barrette is from accessories designer Jennifer Behr.
Kate loved that velvet hair bow so much that she did it twice in one month and we're definitely not complaining. This time she switched it from a low ponytail to a mid-level one and took out the twist detail at the back, instead choosing to curl the tail.
Kate tends to go for two types of blowouts: big and glamorous or this more casual, less bouncy version (that she wore for a visit to the BBC) with lots of curl at the ends. In this case, slightly off-center part and loose waves nicely show off the warm, caramel highlights at the front of her hair.
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Kate Middleton's Oversized Velvet Alice Band, 2018
At a celebration marking the centenary of Amristice at Westminster Abbey in 2018, Kate switched out a jewel-encrusted tiara for a chunky velvet Alice band — marking her as one of the key initiators of the headband trend that would hit the fashion industry in 2019. How she styled it — with one of her low, looped-up chignons with the face-framing pieces crisscrossed across the back of her head, something she does quite often — isn't just an aesthetic choice. The hairstyle actually helps keep the accessory in place, holding the ends of the band close to her head without the need of pins.
The duchess took her go-to hair silhouette and spiced things up, adding thick French braids that started right above her ears and reached across the back of her head, holding the ends of her hair — which seem to be looped under towards her neck — neatly in place.
Prince Louis's christening was the perfect occasion for the duchess to breakout a bespoke headband designed from Jane Taylor London. And as usual, the duchess styled her hair in a low chignon/loop, which acts as both an anchor for the large accessory and a way to expose her beautiful earrings.
The Duchess of Cambridge decided not to wear her hair in classic blowout for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, but rather to wear her hair down and straight as a way to not detract from her floral Philip Treacy head-topper.
Another day, another loop-up hairstyle with intricate twist detail that looks almost like her hair was woven in place. A key difference with this one specific style, however, is the volume at the back of the head, which balances out her moss-green hait, which perches very far forward on her head and slopes down onto her forehead.
Sometimes a hairstyle doesn't need any accessories and detail. Kate proved this with her chignon with short side-part for a dinner at the Royal Palace.
The duchess fooled us all for a hot minute when she turned up to a royal engagement wearing a faux bob. Turns out it was just a lot of bobby pins (and we wouldn't be surprised if there was a hairnet covering it all).
Is it just us or does Kate's low bun look curled like a little rose? The duchess wore a bun neatly wrapped into a hairnet to ensure no flyaway hairs during a day outside.
A trip to Wimbledon in 2017 was a great excuse for the duchess to debut a new shorter hair. The shoulder-length style featured less layers than we're used to seeing from Kate and straighter ends, creating the illusion of even thicker hair (which on Kate, we didn't think was possible).
Kate switched up a normal half-up ponytail for one with small looped details and loose waves, the latter of which highlighted her caramel ombré highlights.
Thanks to her handy hairnet, not a single hair was out of place in this looped-up chignon (with cross-cross details at the back, of course). It was the perfect style for a warm day at the Royal Ascot races in 2017.
In case of "the royals are just like us," Kate went and tried out bangs for a bit. Unlike the rest of us, she's got a professional hairstylist on call who can style them for her and iron out all the cowlicks. Regardless, her mid-length fringe really suits her, worn here for an event at Royal Albert `hall with a middle part and a low, curly updo.
With a deep side part, swooping front layers, and lots of height at the crown, this ponytail brings to mind Brigitte Bardot's famous voluminous hairstyles.
Kate was way ahead of the trend with these pearl accents, adding a few of the accessories into her twisted bun during a trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Humidity doesn't stop the duchess's hair from looking great. She showed off her natural hair texture during a visit to Tuvanipupu Island, allowing us to see her fluffy waves and curls in all their glory.
For her and Prince William's wedding day in 2010, the duchess chose to wear her hair half-up with loose flowing curls behind her shoulders. The hairstyle perfectly complemented the 1936 Cartier tiara she wore, which was originally a gift from George VI to his wife.
For Kate Middleton and Prince William's official engagement announcement photos, she kept her hair sleek and simple with the ends curled away from her face.
