Prince William showed off his new beard in public for the first time as he visited an art exhibition on homelessness, an issue close to his heart.

The heir apparent to his father King Charles III appeared with a neatly trimmed beard last month in an online video with his wife Catherine, praising UK athletes who competed in the Paris Olympics.

But it was seen in the wild for the first time on Thursday as he visited "Homelessness: Reframed", an exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery in London that features sculptures and photographs inspired by the artists' own or others' experiences of homelessness.

William's estranged brother Harry claimed in his autobiography "Spare" that the future king was jealous of his beard and that he was not allowed to have one.

US-based Harry sports a distinctive ginger beard.—AFP