How to slow hair loss if, like Prince Harry, you're experiencing male-pattern baldness

It’s been quite the year for Prince Harry. After finding love and getting married to Meghan Markle, the Duke of Sussex has also recently announced he is going to be a dad.

But all this happiness seems to have come at a price in terms of escalating hair loss.

According to one expert, new pictures seem to reveal that Prince Harry’s bald patch has doubled in size over the last year.

Dr Asim Shahmalak, Britain’s leading hair transplant surgeon from Crown Clinic in Manchester says the 34-year-old royal is now losing his hair as fast as his older brother Prince William.

The recent images of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex touring Australia show a rapid deterioration in Harry’s hair.

But according to Dr Shahmalak his marital happiness could be the cause.

“Men happy in settled relationships often make less effort to disguise their hair loss – because they have found their life partner,” he explains.

“The last year has been a wonderful period of happiness for Harry, culminating in his wedding to Meghan in Windsor in May.

“While marital happiness does not bring about any hormonal changes which would affect hair loss, research shows that men in settled relationships tend to do less to disguise their baldness,” he continues.

“It reflects nature and the need to find a partner. Once that goal is achieved there is slightly less incentive to cover up hair loss.”

Dr Shahmalak believes you can see the stark difference in the pictures of Prince Harry at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September last year presenting a medal, and in Melbourne with pregnant Meghan, 37, last month.

The bald patch, which was previously only centred on his crown now extends to right across the back of his scalp and has doubled in size.

“There has been a significant acceleration of his baldness in the last year and Harry is now losing his hair as rapidly as his brother William,” he explains.

“If he does not take action now, he faces suffering from advanced male pattern baldness like his brother in his forties and beyond.”

So what can Prince Harry and other men suffering from premature hair loss do to halt it?

“There are simple ways to mask the onset of hair loss in the short-term,” advises Dr Shahmalak.

“You can use hair thickeners, which Wayne Rooney has done for years during big games to make his hair look thicker than it really is.

“You can also give the impression of thicker hair by dying it a darker colour, as David Beckham did recently when he was in Hong Kong.”

Dr Shahmalak believes the only long-term solution to the hair loss that Prince Harry is suffering from is a hair transplant.

“He could fully restore his crown with an FUE (follicular unit transplantation) procedure like Wayne Rooney or Calum Best where hair is removed from the back and sides of the scalp and replanted in the balding area,” he says.

Prince Harry could also tackle his hair loss by taking a hair loss drug such as Propecia, which will slow down his baldness but won’t grow him any new hair.

Around 2% of patients taking Propecia experience a loss of libido, and this puts off a lot of male patients.

Dr Shahmalak said the strong royal baldness gene means Harry is shedding hair like his grandfather Prince Philip, father Prince Charles and brother Prince William.

The surgeon said that Prince Harry may have grown his beard to compensate for the hair loss on his scalp.

“It is very common for men who are thinning on top to grow a beard,” he says. “It does detract a little for the hair loss in the scalp. Beards are also a sign of virility and men are often reassured by the fact that while they may be losing hair on top, it still grows well in other parts of their body.”

It isn’t the first time that Prince Harry’s hair has been discussed, earlier this year the Daily Mail reported that he was taking a fancy omega-3 supplement, derived from caviar, to help halt his balding.

Omega-3 fatty acids have been proven to help prevent heart disease and relieve symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, but the scientific evidence doesn’t yet back up the rest of the laundry list of conditions — from depression to diabetes — some claim it cures.

Another royal making hair headlines is Duke of Cambridge who almost broke the Internet after debuting a new buzzcut earlier this year.

Prince William is certainly not one to shy away from the topic of losing his hair and is no stranger to cracking a bald joke or two.

In September last year, the royal visited Spitalfields Crypt Trust, which just so happens to sit adjacent to a barber shop. And after meeting one of the hairstylists, he joked: “I can’t give you much business!”

According to recent statistics, 40% of men are likely to have experienced hair loss by the age of 35 and for many, like Prince’s William and Harry it’s simply a result of hereditary genes.

Years of research have failed to find a an effective cure. But earlier this year scientists revealed they could be on the cusp of finding a treatment for balding, and it’s all down to sandalwood.

Sandalore, the artificial scent made to smell like sandalwood, a scent used in many of our perfumes and soaps, has been found to stimulate hair growth by increasing keratin levels in the scalp.

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