Princess Diana’s hairstylist, Sam McKnight, is speaking out amid rumors Kate Middleton’s new blonde hair is a wig.
McKnight, who worked as Diana’s personal hairstylist for seven years before her death, took to Instagram on September 4 to defend Prince William’s wife’s recent 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.”
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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.”
McKnight ended his post by reminding critics that Kate recently went through cancer. (The Princess of Wales announced that she was diagnosed with an undisclosed form of cancer in March 2024. After undergoing chemotherapy, she revealed that her cancer was in remission in January 2025.)
“I’m sure she would rather be away from the public arena. She has brilliantly and quietly, unselfishly represented our country, the soft power we still have as a nation,” McKnight concluded. “Cancer affects individuals differently, but is life changing for everyone So FFS LEAVE HER ALONE. SHAME ON YOU.”
Kate debuted her new honey blonde hair while visiting the National History Museum’s newly transformed gardens with her husband, Prince William. The appearance marked the couple’s first joint outing following their summer break. For the appearance, Kate wore her hair in her signature bouncy blowout waves with a side part. Kate first sparked speculation she dyed her hair on August 24 when she was photographed arriving to church near Balmoral Castle in Scotland with William and their kids: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
After her appearance at the National History Museum, however, Kate came under accusations that her hair was a wig. “Surely the #RoyalFamily can afford a better looking wig than this for #KateMiddleton. Ladies, this is why you’re supposed to earn your own money…..so that you can go and buy proper wigs for yourself!!!” a user wrote on X. Another user wrote on X, “Kate Middleton wearing the cheapest wig I’ve ever seen in my life 😂.” One more user wrote on X, “I hope this is a wig because Kate Middleton’s new look is just plain awful..”
Other users, however, denied that Kate’s hair was a wig and speculated that she could’ve worn hair extensions. “It’s not a wig; you can see at the front that it isn’t a wig. #KateMiddleton has hair extensions in, look at the back of her head, 👇. She been wearing hair extensions forever?” a user wrote on X.