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The Princess of Wales has mastered the art of voluminous hair for years. Long before her latest tumbling bronde waves, which were on full display at the 2026 Wimbledon Tennis Championships, the royal was famous for her glamorous brunette tresses, which she regularly blowdried to perfection.
While the royal has since transformed her hair colour, a flawless head of curls simply never goes out of style, and back in 2017, Princess Kate wore her hair in the bounciest and most beautiful curls ever. The Princess of Wales, who was then the Duchess of Cambridge, attended a Heads Together charity briefing on 17 January, 2017, with her warm chestnut brown mane styled in ringlets.
The royal's glossy tresses tumbled well past her shoulders in a sweeping side part and framed her face perfectly. The ends were gorgeously styled in large barrel curls for a full-bodied look.
Kate's signature curls
Princess Kate's voluminous curls have become a signature of her style for over a decade, dating back to her engagement to Prince William in 2010. The royal's lightly curled hair was nicknamed the 'Chelsea blowdry' and created by her stylist Richard Ward at the time.
Speaking to HELLO!, celebrity hairstylist Michael Gray shared that Kate's big and bouncy blowdry is achieved with a variety of brushes.
"The Dallas blowdry is taking sections of hair the same size as a round blow dry brush, blow drying the hair up to achieve maximum volume and movement through the hair, wrapping the hair in and pinning, allowing the hair to cool down," he told us. The hairstyle has often been referred to as the 'Dallas blowdry' on TikTok, and has been popularised by the likes of pop superstar Sabrina Carpenter.
Kate's hair journey
After years of being a brunette, Kate completely transformed her hair in September 2025 when she debuted a much lighter and sun-kissed 'do with blonde highlights. The royal stepped out for an appearance at the Natural History Museum with her hair a new golden hue and looking longer than ever.
"Kate's a natural beauty chameleon that can take red, brunette or blonde tones, so this is a wonderful time of year for her to have made this transition," colourist to the stars and royalty, Daniel Galvin Jr MBE, told HELLO!.
"It's quite a contrast to her former brunette locks, which is, of course is part of her trademark. People say 'don't go lighter in the winter,' but I don't go by instructions in a book or follow manuals; I go against the grain. I think going lighter in the winter, particularly with the fashion colour tones of burgundy, navy and the more muted tones this season, it's making her eyes look stronger, bluer this time of year."
For the 2026 BAFTAs in January, the royal switched out her voluminous curls for tightly woven ringlets on the red carpet.
