HAIRDRESSER James Pryce – the man responsible for styling the Duchess of Cambridge’s hair on her wedding day – says it took two hours to perfect the royal’s bridal hairstyle last April. His secret weapon? Glossing treatments to achieve that sought-after healthy shine.

“It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget,” said Pryce. “It was a great honour. My mum passed away a few years ago, and I think she would have been really, really proud of me. I said to my father around the time of the wedding, maybe all the money he had spent on my education wasn’t such a waste, because being lucky enough to have an education like that doesn’t just help you academically – I think it gives you confidence.”

Pryce worked with the Middleton family for five years until he left Richard Ward late last year – the Duchess’ favoured King’s Road salon – to work at the Josh Wood Atelier in Holland Park.

“They are a wonderful family, very natural and unassuming,” he said.

More widely known for his edgy hair designs, it came as something of a surprise for the London-born stylist to find fame by creating the elegant demi-chignon for the Duchess on her wedding day: “[I'm] sort of more innovative,” he tells The Daily Telegraph, “To become well-known for something that I don’t specialise in is quite interesting.”

More interesting perhaps is that we may never have encountered the name James Pryce. The son of two hairdressers, as a young man he rebelled against the family business: “I was naturally a bit creative, so my dad suggested I tried hairdressing. And I was like, ‘No way, it’s for girls!’”