Royal fans gush over Prince William's facial hair during visit to Kalk Bay Harbour in South Africa

Royal fans have gushed over Prince William 's beard during his visit to Kalk Bay Harbour in South Africa today.

The Prince of Wales, 42, enjoyed a braai lunch as he spoke of his love of Cape Town and greeted crowds of wellwishers who had come out to the Bay to catch a glimpse of the future King.

As he was conversing, one fan chimed in and shouted: 'I like the beard,' to which William responded: 'Oh thank you,' as he stroked his facial hair.

The father-of-three has received much support from lovers of the Firm about his stubble, with some dubbing him 'hot' and 'handsome' for growing it out.

It is not the first time the Prince has dabbled in facial hair: in 2008 he sent hearts a-flutter by growing a beard for the festive season, claiming that strangers failed to recognise him.

And despite claiming on Christmas Day that he would shave it off, he kept the fuzz for several weeks.

William and his beard hit the headlines last year after his brother Prince Harry, 39, claimed in his explosive memoir Spare that the siblings had argued over facial hair.

Harry said the Prince of Wales told him to shave his beard off before his wedding to Meghan Markle in May 2018.

As it is customary to be clean-shaven when dressed in Army uniform, the groom was expected to have shaved prior to his wedding ceremony.

British Army soldiers and officers have only been allowed to grow a full beard after King Charles gave his approval in March 2024, allowing military chiefs to end the more than 100-year ban.

However, when Harry was granted permission by his grandmother to keep the facial hair, he said William 'became livid'.

During his visit today, William rubbed shoulders with Heidi Klum, Winnie Harlow and Billie Porter as he told the crowd: 'I love Cape Town, I've had the most amazing week here, I've really enjoyed it. I don't want to go!'

He added: 'My children would love to be here, so would Catherine.'

Earlier, he received a jar of jam months after his sister-in-law Meghan began gifting her friends with exactly the same item.

William said he woke up feeling 'emotional' the day after the Earthshot awards ceremony and 'excited' about how well it had gone.

Joining presenters Heidi Klum, Winnie Harlow, Billy Porter and Tobe Nwigwe for a traditional South African Braai, or barbecue, at Kalk Bay in Cape Town, William told them: 'I really appreciate all your support,' to which Winnie replied: 'It was an honour.'

William said: 'I woke up this morning feeling quite emotional and excited.'

Heidi Klum, who presented one of the Earthshot awards the night before, said: 'I was emotional on the stage.'

William had travelled by boat to the picturesque fishing village of Kalk Bay on the final day of his four day visit to Cape Town to see the work of Abalobi, a 2023 Earthshot prize finalist which works with local fishermen to categorise and track their hauls.

He was met with shouts of 'We love you, William' and met Abalobi co-founder Serge Raemaekers who introduced the Prince to local fishermen and a team of fisherwomen involved in the Abalobi monitoring programme.

Fisherwoman and lead in Abalobi's monitoring programme Casha de Vos told the Prince that they measure and weigh the fish before cataloguing the details on the Abalobi database.

William held a yellow tail fish and told the fishermen: 'You're the trail blazers. You're the leaders.'

He then walked back down the harbour wall to where several Abalobi staff were barbecuing fish for William to try while a guitarist played for him.

At one point locals swimming in the bay shouted up 'hello Prince William' and he waved back to them.

However a small group of protestors shouted 'Our people, our bones' and one held a banner which read: 'William, you have no sovereignty here.'

Others shouted loudly: 'You are welcome, we love you.'

He also appeared to have experimented with his sense of fashion for this year's Earthshot prize, going for more of a 'hipster' look.

Gone was the velvet suit and dicky bow that the Prince of Wales donned at last year's ceremony, and in its place was an outfit reminiscent of one royal fans would expect to see on his wife, Kate Middleton .