It’s been weeks since Kate Middleton debuted her new blonde look and quickly retracted it, but friends of the Princess of Wales are coming to her defense. After her cancer treatment, she has been working hard since her remission.
Prince William and Kate Middleton stepped out to see the Natural History Museum’s newly transformed gardens on Sept. 4, and the Princess sported blonde locks with her signature curls. Netizens immediately criticized the look, with some claiming it was a wig. A friend of the royal told RadarOnline, “Kate came back from her summer break feeling positive, only to be slammed over her appearance. She admitted it left her anxious and doubting herself. After receiving so much kindness since her diagnosis, being torn down over something trivial was really tough.”
“Kate has always shown strength, but this autumn has been relentless,” a friend said, referring to King Charles’ cancer treatment and Prince Harry’s reconciliation efforts with his father (which William is heavily opposed to). “With the family tensions and criticism of her appearance, she’s questioned how much more she can cope with.”
Despite it all, Kate knows how to keep her head high. “Even at her lowest, Kate managed to compose herself,” a source elaborated. “She knows public scrutiny comes with the role, but the cruel comments still hurt. Now she’s channeling her energy into regaining strength and carrying out her work.”
When social media users called the wig unflattering, the insults dug deep. “It is her armor,” said one source. “But she’s determined not to let criticism about it define her.”
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“Some of the remarks were vile,” another source told the site. “People were mocking her, calling the blonde look a wig to cover bald patches.”
“Given what she’s been through, that sort of trolling is horrific,” they continued. “She’s worked hard to be open about cancer but also dignified – it’s disgusting that people use it as a weapon against her.”
A second insider said, “Kate is deeply committed to her role and never grumbles. Still, she’s only human. After enduring months of chemotherapy, changes to her hair are an inevitable reality. Mocking that is unbelievably cruel.” The Princess of Wales notably changed her hair color back to brown following the backlash.
Amid the hate comments, Sam McKnight, who worked as Diana’s personal hairstylist for seven years before her death, took to Instagram on Sept. 4 to defend Prince William’s wife’s hair makeover. “I am shocked, horrified, dismayed and disgusted by all the nasty comments about the Princess of Wales today,” he wrote in a post. “A woman’s hair is very personal to her, it’s armor, defense, confidence and so much more.”
He continued, “I cannot believe how evil and lacking in any kind of empathy are the comments, the majority made apparently by other women, attacking a vulnerable other young woman, who has no choice, by dint of who she married and the role she took on, to bravely face the public.”