Prince Harry had returned to the UK after years of estrangement from the royal family. However, as expected, his comeback did not end without controversy. Eagle-eyed critics suggested that the husband of Meghan Markle had dyed his hair between his London court appearance and his attendance at the Sundance Film Festival.
A side-by-side comparison posted on X on January 25 asked the obvious question: how did his hair grow back so quickly? The answer, according to observers online, was simple. Hair dye and fiber spray. Some suggested he’d dyed his scalp to make his thinning hair look fuller. Others claimed he was using hair fiber spray to add volume. A few joked about everything from hair transplants in Turkey to full toupees.
Hair experts:
How did Prince Harry somehow miraculously get new hair in less than 72 hours? pic.twitter.com/UFahYM4yEl
— King Billy (@Teranova2112) January 25, 2026
“By dyeing it and in turn, dying his scalp so that the color makes his thinning hair look fuller,” one expert on the thread noted. Another added, “Looks like his hair and beard have been dyed darker red. Dyeing does make thin hair look thicker. But the top still looks like he has way more hair than he does.”
Is this the guy who was slagging off #princeWilliam about being bald?
Who’s going to tell #PrinceHarry – he’s very, very bald and holding on to that tuft at the front looks pathetic! 🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/iWo4n3fKgk
— o0o_Irish_Rose_o0o (@o0o_Irish_Rose) January 21, 2026
The observations weren’t particularly kind. One person commented that his new look “looks strange up close” and that he was “obviously” using some type of coloring spray. Another tweeted: “Dye and volume products. Looks like he got a facial too.”
Before the allegations of dyeing, Prince Harry had been in London to testify in his court case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher of The Daily Mail. Court sketches from his testimony showed the father of Archie and Lilibet with noticeably fuller red hair than what paparazzi snapped when he walked into the High Court.
The palpable difference between actual photos and artistic renderings sparked its own round of jokes about the courtroom sketches. Making things worse is that, historically, Prince Harry publicly mocked Prince William’s baldness in his 2023 memoir titled Spare.
You have to give credit to the court artist who accurately highlighted Harry Mountbatten Windsor’s ALARMING BALDNESS in his drawings
🤭🤭🤭 pic.twitter.com/gBxFiFI08w
— MeghansMole©️ (@MeghansMole) January 21, 2026
His comment was sharp, personal, and public. Now that his own hair thinning is undeniable, netizens were quick to point out the hypocrisy. “Honestly, if he hadn’t mocked William’s hair loss, most people wouldn’t even comment,” someone wrote online. “‘Alarmingly bald’ I believe is what Harry called his brother. What does he call his current state of hair loss?”
The mockery first surfaced earlier this year, when Meghan Markle shared a clip of them dancing together on Instagram. While some just pointed out Prince Harry’s thinking hair, others compared his baldness to Prince William’s and created a narrative around the two sons of King Charles and the late Princess Diana, who deal with hair loss in very different ways.
The Duke of Sussex probably figured he’d just breeze through the Sundance Film Festival for a bit of work, but the internet clearly had other plans. For a guy who’s been so vocal about wanting the press to back off, the irony of the entire world squinting at his scalp definitely isn’t lost on him.
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle hit Sundance Film Festival after his emotional testimony against the U.K. tabloids. pic.twitter.com/NljQIsg5BF
— ExtraTV (@extratv) January 26, 2026
Prince Harry has spent his whole life fighting for privacy and telling the press to back off, but now he’s being picked apart by the public over whether he’s using a bit of “bottled” help. You have to imagine he sees the irony in being a champion for privacy while the whole world is squinting at his head.
