If you are wondering if Prince Harry had a hair transplant, you are not the only one. As recent photos posted by the royal family member on his wellness website, BetterUp [1], show him with a full head of hair, the debate around his hair journey has been rekindled [2].
While the prince himself never commented on this issue, the media has speculated that he had a hairline transplant surgery around 2017, placing him among numerous other celebrities who may have had hair transplants.
This article presents all the available evidence of Prince Harry’s alleged hair transplant. Facts are separated from rumours, as we carefully scrutinise the royal’s hair timeline and media appearances, and we present plausible hair loss treatment scenarios. We also analyse the potential graft requirements and surgery costs for a hair restoration procedure similar to the one Harry may have had. Finally, we give you a glimpse of the hair transplant results of other celebrities whose hair loss was comparable to Harry’s.
Key takeaways
Several hair growth treatments and cosmetics could have made Harry’s hair appear somewhat fuller at certain points in time (medications such as Minoxidil and/or Finasteride, therapies like PRP hair treatment, or hair thickening sprays)
Rumours about Prince Harry’s hair transplant started in 2017. After a period of visible hairline receding, he appeared in public sporting fuller and darker frontal hair. These speculations resurfaced after 2021, when he started to display a significant bald spot on the crown, but much more limited frontal balding.
In 2021, after analysing recent photos of Prince Harry, a hair transplant influencer declared for The Telegraph [3] that:
“Those sorts of patterns can be similar to men who have recently had a hair transplant procedure, where the hair is first shaved off and then grows in. It’s a stage that men who have had this treatment get to before the hair matures. It wouldn’t surprise me if, in six to eight months, Harry looks very different.”
However, this prediction was not confirmed in 2023, as the Prince’s hair shedding continued. While he may have had a hair transplant, it is just as likely that he used one or a combination of the following to achieve this result:
The theory that Prince Harry might be using non-surgical hair restoration treatments to improve the appearance of his hair in the public eye is supported by discrepancies pointed out in the media between recent photos posted to his website and the way he looked in public appearances only days later [1].
Prince Harry comes from a long line of men who experienced androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness). This common condition is influenced by a number of factors, such as age, genetics and hormones, and it affects 85% of men during their lifetime [4]. What happens is that when your body produces an excess of a male hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT), it binds to receptors on your hair follicles, making them decrease in size and stop producing hair.
Just because your dad is bald doesn’t mean you will necessarily go bald as well. However, it does mean you are more predisposed to developing male pattern baldness. And this genetic predisposition increases when it comes from both sides of your family and affects most males who are biologically related to you.
Prince Philip, King Charles’ father and the grandfather of Prince Harry and Prince William, had displayed clear signs of male pattern baldness starting in his mid-30s. This condition progressed, reaching advanced hair loss by the end of his life, at age 99.
King Charles III, Harry’s father, experienced the first signs of androgenetic alopecia around midlife, as he reached his 50s. However, fortunately for him, he had a rather atypical balding pattern, where he didn’t initially lose much of his frontal hair, but developed crown thinning that could be hidden from the cameras with greater ease.
Harry’s older brother, Prince William, did not share the same good fortune. He started losing his hair the earliest in the family. William’s hair thinning began almost at the same time as his father’s, in the early 2000s. However, he was a young man in his early 20s when he started developing male pattern baldness. His form seemed to be the most severe in the family, as he displayed visible crown thinning at only 25 years old. His frontal area also receded fast, and he eventually reached the final Norwood stages before the age of 45.
However, it wasn’t only the men on Harry’s father’s side of the family that were losing their hair to male pattern baldness. Earl John Spencer, his maternal grandfather, had also experienced significant hair loss. His genes could also have been passed down and influenced Harry’s predisposition to androgenetic alopecia.
Harry’s family history, rife with androgenetic alopecia, is the first clue that this condition is at the root of his own hair loss. However, the ultimate proof that he is indeed experiencing this condition lies in its tell-tale signs:
While male pattern baldness can sometimes be treated with medication, if that proves ineffective, a permanent hair transplant can provide a long-term solution.
Like most young men, Harry started out with perfectly healthy hair, and quite a bit of it. However, unfortunately for him, he only got to enjoy his alopecia-free appearance until his mid-twenties. It was all downhill from there, as progressive hair thinning has left its mark on his more mature years. Here is a detailed overview of how Prince Harry’s hair has evolved over time, from his youth until the present day:
As a teenager and throughout his early 20s, Prince Harry had a head full of thick, rebellious, ginger hair. He showed no signs of hair shedding, his hairline was straight, and his temple hair aligned with the end of his eyebrows.
Harry’s slightly textured hair probably contributed to the appearance of fullness, and, incidentally, it was also what helped disguise some of his hair thinning later on. And his naturally wider forehead allowed his hairline to recede gradually over time, without raising concerns.
Around the age of 25, Harry started to show the first signs of an M-shaped hairline. Due to temple hair loss, his frontal area did not end in a straight line anymore, but became somewhat curved, as the upper corners of his forehead became higher and sharper.
This phenomenon is quite common for young men of this age, as the first signs of androgenetic alopecia often appear in their mid to late 20s. In some cases, they can even become apparent as early as the onset of puberty [5] (if you’re affected by male pattern baldness at a younger age, learn how to stop hair loss in teenage guys).
The Prince’s uneven hairline became more and more conspicuous between 2012 and 2014, as his temple hair was no longer aligned with his eyebrows, but had receded towards the sides of his head. While it may seem like Harry’s hairline had matured rather than receded, he had actually developed typical signs of incipient male pattern baldness. However, at this time, he still had enough hair left to disguise his advancing male pattern baldness.
Harry’s hair shedding only got worse by 2016, hinting at the fact that the royal would soon be balding at the front and crown unless he received treatment.
Then, in 2017, at age 33, Harry was photographed with significantly fuller frontal hair and a straighter hairline than he had had in the previous few years. This is not a typical occurrence for androgenetic alopecia, as this condition typically advances over time and does not spontaneously resolve without treatment.
However, these photographs may have been deceiving, since the combination of flattering lighting, the Prince’s natural curly hair texture and cosmetic products may have effectively hidden his thinning crown. Here are two photographs from the same 2017 photo shoot, which paint two different pictures of Harry’s hair:
While the first photo makes the prince’s hairline seem straighter and his hair seem fuller, the second emphasises his temple recession and his thinning at the crown.
Had Prince Harry had hair restoration surgery in 2017, most of his hair troubles should have been over for years to come, regardless of the angle of shooting. It is possible that he only had a small hair transplant to fix his hairline, while leaving his crown as it was. That could explain why the thinning spot persisted during the following years. The prince may have also resorted to other hair growth treatments (to be discussed) that may have provided temporary improvement in his frontal hair fullness. Or his hair transplant may have simply gone wrong, and many of his implanted grafts may not have survived.
Between 2018 and 2020, Harry’s hairline did indeed look straighter and more natural, and his hair shedding appeared less evident in official photos taken during public appearances.
Other images, however, taken from less flattering angles, show the Prince’s hair was still progressively falling out. The growing baldness on his crown made it increasingly less likely that he had ever had surgery to cover this area. While some men can indeed lose some of their transplanted hair fullness over time [6], their hair shedding is nowhere near this dramatic and it doesn’t happen so rapidly.
Photographs from 2022-2023 show Harry’s balding had become more advanced on the crown, while the front of his head seemed to have experienced significantly less hair loss. This is not a common pattern in androgenetic alopecia, which is why some media sources took it as a sign that the Prince’s frontal hair had been transplanted.
However, it must be noted that King Charles’ male pattern baldness followed the same atypical pattern, where his crown was significantly more affected by hair loss than his frontal area. It is quite likely that Harry has inherited this trait genetically from his father.
Moreover, by the present day, even the Prince’s hairline has significantly dwindled once more. It appears he is about to follow in his older brother’s footsteps in reaching the final Norwood stages before the age of 45. Successful hair transplants last forever, and Harry would have had access to the best hair transplant clinics in the UK. So, had he had surgical hair restoration, his frontal area should still be adequately covered today.
If Prince Harry did, in fact, get a hair transplant, it is speculated that he may have had a FUT-type procedure. While this option is less popular in recent years than the more modern FUE type surgery, due to more visible scarring, profile photos of Harry reveal what some internet commenters describe as a potential FUT scar.
The difference between FUE and FUT rests in the way the hair follicles are harvested for transplantation. FUT surgery involves harvesting an entire strip of scalp from your safe donor area at the back or sides of your head and then cutting it up into grafts under a powerful microscope. The wound is then carefully sutured, leaving behind a fine, linear scar.
FUE surgery involves using a small, sharp tool to extract each hair graft individually. While this process takes longer and is more painstaking than FUT, it is more precise and leaves virtually no scarring. It also has a shorter and more comfortable hair transplant recovery period.
While it is debatable whether a scar is actually present in the photo above, the area does seem to have thinning consistent with a hair transplant donor area. This can indicate a masterfully sutured FUT scar or a sign of FUE overharvesting, which left the area sparser than its surroundings. Given Prince Harry’s celebrity status, it is more likely that his surgeon was highly skilled than inexperienced and error-prone. So if that is indeed a well-covered hair transplant scar, FUT seems like the most probable method.
Judging by appearance alone, Prince Harry’s presumed hair transplant would have only covered his hairline and frontal area. According to the hair graft calculator, he may have had a 1500-2000 graft hair transplant.
However, since Harry was already developing a bald spot on his crown prior to this alleged hair restoration surgery, he seemed to experience Norwood stage 3 pattern baldness. This means he would likely have been advised to undergo a more substantial hair transplant, which would also have covered the top of his head. This is especially true since he has a family history of advanced androgenetic alopecia, which means his hair loss could be expected to progress.
It is possible that Harry had planned to get a second hair transplant for his crown. However, if this is true, he has likely changed his mind about it, since the hair loss on the top of his head is now extensive, and he may not have enough healthy donor hair left to cover it.
If Prince Harry has indeed had a hairline and frontal scalp hair transplant, he is likely to have done so at a high-end UK clinic. So it is fair to assume that he would have paid higher-than-average rates for his procedure.
The highest hair transplant cost in the UK for 1500 hair grafts is £15,000, so we may assume that the prince may have paid something close to this amount. However, had he had an average-priced hair transplant procedure, he might have only paid around £5000 for it.
Had Prince Harry got his hair restoration surgery after moving to California, assuming he had still received 1500 grafts, the Los Angeles hair transplant cost would have been around $15,000 at a high-end clinic, so not much different from the UK. It should be noted that an average hair restoration surgery cost would have been significantly higher in the US than in the UK: over $11,500.
Hair transplant failure is a very rare occurrence. The experienced Wimpole Clinic Medical Director and Principal Surgeon, Dr Michael May, confidently states the normal merits of these procedures:
“The vast majority of hair transplants are highly successful procedures that result in patients recovering quickly and well, and being delighted with their results.”
However, this doesn’t mean that surgery failure can never occur. In fact, even celebrities who can afford the best care can sometimes experience poor procedure results (e.g. Elton John’s hair transplant or Joe Rogan’s hair transplant). Could Prince Harry have had hair restoration surgery that simply did not take?
It is very difficult to tell whether Prince Harry underwent a hair transplant at some point in time, but his grafts simply did not survive or fell out over a short period of time. This scenario is not impossible and, according to Dr May, it is one of the risks patients take when opting for surgical hair restoration:
“There are a number of reasons why medical problems may occur. In most cases, the issue will simply be down to the inherent risks of any surgery, such as how the patient will respond to the treatment, and how well they recover and heal.”
However, Dr May also points out that low graft survival and poor post-transplant hair growth can often be attributed to poor implantation technique, such as one would see in a low-skilled or inexperienced surgeon. Since Harry is a member of the British Royal Family, he would likely have had access to some of the UK’s best hair transplant surgeons. So poor technique is unlikely, though improper hair transplant aftercare and failure to respect post-op activity restrictions could also have caused subpar results.
Prince Harry’s hair transplant is rumoured to have taken place less than 10 years ago. However, even in such a short time, hair transplant technology and technique have made some important progress. And a member of the Royal Family would likely have access to state-of-the-art treatment. For example, Harry could opt for a faster and more accurate AI-guided robotic hair transplant [7].
Even if he chose to get traditional FUE surgery, there is a good chance that Harry could get good hair coverage, especially since he still has some native hair left. His M-shaped hairline could be restored, and a skilled and experienced surgeon could create adequate cosmetic hair density on his crown. The Prince’s textured hair would be of significant help in this process, as it creates the illusion of extra fullness.
However, any results that Prince Harry might get are conditioned on several personal factors. The most important of these is the number of grafts he still has available to harvest. If he really did have a hair transplant in 2017, he may have already depleted some of his donor area, so he may have to resort to a body hair transplant to supplement his grafts.
Given the substantial fluctuations in hair fullness, it is quite likely that Prince Harry has tried using non-surgical hair growth treatments at some point in life. However, while the press has been speculating about the therapies he may have chosen, Harry remained discreet on this subject. Here are some of the best options he could try to help him achieve thicker hair without surgery:
Minoxidil and Finasteride are the world’s only two hair loss medications recognised by the FDA and the MHRA for treating male pattern baldness.
Minoxidil works by dilating the small blood vessels in your scalp to help your hair follicles receive more oxygen and nutrients. This helps regulate your hair growth cycle and allows your hair to remain in the growth phase for longer.
Finasteride works by reducing the levels of DHT in your blood. Using this medication can thus help slow down or even reverse male pattern baldness (depending on how advanced your alopecia is).
Using Minoxidil combined with Finasteride can have an even stronger effect against androgenetic alopecia than either of the two standalone medications. So if Prince Harry decided to use both of them daily, he might get fuller, healthier hair.
Getting PRP treatment for hair is a proven way to repair your hair follicles and reduce your male pattern baldness. The process involves harvesting a small amount of blood from your arm, separating the PRP from the other blood fractions and injecting it into the thinning areas of your scalp.
This treatment works because PRP is rich in growth factors, which can help repair hair follicles miniaturised by androgenetic alopecia. They can also help restore the blood vessels that nourish your hair follicles, as well as create new ones. Prince Harry’s hair could definitely stand to benefit from getting a PRP treatment course, with regular refresher sessions every three months.
Known as red light therapy for hair by many patients, low-level laser therapy is safe, effective and completely pain-free. It works by shining red or near-infrared light onto the scalp. The light is absorbed into the skin, optimising the functioning of the cell mitochondria and increasing blood flow to your hair follicles.
Since Prince Harry is a busy man who values his privacy, he wouldn’t even need to attend a hair clinic for this treatment. He could simply get a laser hair growth cap and use it for 10-30 minutes each day in the comfort of his own home.
This hair loss treatment can also be administered at home. It involves using a small, hand-held tool covered in fine needles called a derma roller, which is why it is also known as derma rolling for hair growth. The tool is gently pressed across the thinning areas of the scalp, creating micropunctures. This triggers the body’s own healing response, repairing damaged hair follicles in the process of healing the microscopic wounds.
Research shows that using Minoxidil and a derma roller together can produce far superior results than each individual treatment. So Prince Harry could consider combining them for optimal results.
While these treatments are unlikely to reverse his rather advanced hair loss, they could help Prince Harry’s hair grow fuller and slow down his alopecia if he keeps using them regularly.
If Prince Harry did have a hair transplant, it was likely unsuccessful. However, he wouldn’t be the only celebrity in this unfortunate position. For another famous example, Superstar Elton John had several failed hair restoration surgeries before finally opting for wearing hair systems.
However, most celebrity hair transplants have excellent results. Here are some examples of other stars with hair loss similar to Harry’s who were very satisfied with their surgical hair restorations:
In 2018, English cricket captain Ben Stokes had an M-shaped hairline and a thinning crown similar to Harry’s before his rumoured hair restoration procedure. The sportsman acted decisively by turning to the excellent surgical team at the Wimpole Clinic for help.
Ben Stokes’ hair transplant was a major success. His hair density was increased substantially and his hairline was once more straight and useful. Regaining his hair fullness provided a lasting source of confidence that persists to this day.
Beloved comedy actor Joel McHale decided to get a hair transplant around the time his hair loss reached Norwood stage 3. That is the same male pattern baldness stage Harry was experiencing before his rumoured procedure.
It took the actor 3 separate surgical interventions, but by the time his final results came around, his hair was more glorious than ever. His hair transplant has turned out so well that Joel’s hair has become one of his most praised physical features.
This British entertainer had significantly more advanced hair loss than Prince Harry when he decided to get hair restoration surgery in 2020. His entire frontal and crown area was balding, indicating a Norwood stage 4-5 androgenetic alopecia.
However, despite his substantial hair loss, Peter Dale “Tubes”’s hair transplant was quite the success story. It took a single session to fully restore his frontal area and crown, providing adequate cosmetic density.
If you are curious to investigate the hair situation of other famous people who, just like Harry, were rumoured to have had secret hair transplants, check out some of these stories:
You don’t need to be a prince to be treated like royalty when it comes to your surgical hair restoration. All you need to do is book a free hair transplant consultation at the award-winning Wimpole Clinic. Our world-class surgeons’ magnificent results and our irreproachable patient-centred care make us Hair Transplant Clinic of the Year for 4 years standing (2021-2024). So you can rest assured that your hair will be in the most competent hands with us. See some of our work for yourself by perusing our before-and-after hair transplant gallery.
Find out even more about Prince Harry’s hair situation by reading the answers to these frequently asked questions:
Some people can indeed develop stress or anxiety-induced hair loss, and there are even certain health conditions (e.g. thyroid hair loss) or medications that can cause hair loss. It is possible that Prince Harry himself underwent some such hair thinning at some point in life, which accentuated his balding. However, there is little question when it comes to his androgenetic alopecia.
Harry has an extensive family history of men who developed progressive male pattern baldness, which makes him predisposed to this type of alopecia. Moreover, he is showing all of its undeniable signs. His receding hairline, his temple hair loss, and the progressive bald spot on his crown speak for themselves.
This does not mean that stress, medication side effects or vitamin deficiencies that cause hair loss could not add some further diffuse thinning to his hair problems. But the type of hair loss these conditions produce does not mimic the tell-tale pattern of androgenetic alopecia. And, in most cases, these conditions resolve themselves once the triggering event is removed. However, Harry’s hair loss only worsened over time.
The number of hair transplant sessions Prince Harry might need largely depends on his preference and his surgeons’ recommendations. Normally, if he were to get a hair transplant today, he would probably need around 3000-4000 hair grafts for a full scalp repair. The Prince could choose to cover his frontal area first and then get a separate surgery to fix his crown. Or he might opt to have the entire surgery completed in a single, longer session and solve his hair problems once and for all.
If Harry’s hair loss were more advanced and he would need 5000+ hair grafts, chances are that he would choose to get two hair transplant sessions, to avoid surgeon fatigue and undue stress to his scalp. However, even under these circumstances, some patients opt for hair transplant megasessions. While surgeons normally recommend against them, a few successful such high-volume hair transplant sessions have been recorded in the relevant literature [8].
Men with Norwood Stage 5 are heavily represented among hair transplant patients. While it is ideal to get hair restoration surgery before the hair loss gets this advanced, it is still not too late to have your scalp covered. Provided that the men who opt for a Norwood stage 5 hair transplant have enough hair left in their donor area to get the number of grafts they need (and they often do, if it is their first procedure), the surgery has a good chance of success.
However, only a surgeon can say for sure if your Norwood stage 5 androgenetic alopecia is eligible for surgical hair restoration. Aspects such as your scalp laxity, your hair type, the characteristics of your safe donor area and your overall health condition can also play an important role in determining whether you make a good candidate for a hair transplant.
Provided that Prince Harry still has sufficient healthy hair follicles in his safe donor area to provide good coverage, he would likely benefit from getting a hair transplant today. While he may not be able to regain the hair fullness he had in his 20s, a successful surgical hair restoration would greatly improve his hair density and scalp coverage. This is especially true if he engaged in good hair transplant maintenance and took hair growth medications diligently throughout his life.
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Dr. Hisham Band (GMC 7550130) is a distinguished hair transplant surgeon with deep expertise in the most advanced techniques, including FUE, FUT, and DHI.
Beginning his career as a resident in Plastic Surgery, Dr. Band developed a keen aesthetic sensibility and meticulous precision – qualities that are evident in every procedure he performs
With a prolific portfolio of over 1,500 successful procedures, he specialises in complex repairs, crafting results that blend seamlessly with his patients’ natural contours and characteristics. His extensive medical background spans Internal Medicine, Major Trauma, and Plastic Surgery, culminating in a master’s degree in Burns, Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery from the prestigious University College London (UCL).
His reputation attracts high-profile individuals and underscores his role in sports medicine, where he serves as a Level 3 English Boxing Association (EBA) doctor, providing top-tier care to elite MMA athletes, including those competing under the UFC banner.
At the core of his practice, Dr. Band prioritises the holistic well-being of his patients, ensuring each procedure enhances both physical and mental health. His patient-centric approach and meticulous craftsmanship continue to set him apart in the field of hair transplant surgery.
