Balding Prince William has finally shaved his head — take a look back at the road to acceptance

Though his thinning hair has long been the subject of ridicule by the media, Prince William appears to have embraced baldness: New photos emerged on Thursday of the Prince debuting a freshly shaven head.

The photos were taken while the Duke of Cambridge was at Evelina London Children's Hospital to launch a program to help veterans find work in the UK's National Health Service.

Here he is debuting the new cut:

Some close-up shots also emerged on Twitter:

The Duke of Cambridge has s... @ Elliot Wagland

The move appears to have been a drawn-out process.

Here's a photo of him in October with a slightly longer, albeit wispy, 'do:

In 2015, at the launch of the Centrepoint Awards, he looks to have combed some of it over:

On safari in 2014, he had more hair but a clearly receding hairline:

But one thing is for sure: We can officially say RIP to the head of hair he once had.