She wowed the world by looking almost impossibly well-groomed and fresh-faced less than 12hours after giving birth to her second child.

At 6 o’clock in the evening standing on the steps of the Lindo Wing at St Mary’s Hospital in London on Saturday following the 8.30am birth of Princess Charlotte, Kate Middleton was perfectly radiant. And despite her slim figure, bespoke Jenny Packham dress, and, of course, her gorgeous newborn daughter, the Duchess Of Cambridge’s magnificent hair certainly didn’t go unnoticed.

Rumours have long been abound that the royal relies on strategically-placed hair extensions to give her own natural locks a boost; this weekend will certainly do little to placate the conversation. Before emerging into public, she was looked after by well-to-do hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker, who was apparently spotted entering the maternity hospital at lunchtime on Saturday, armed with appliances and products.

But speculation is now mounting that even even the best professionals in the business would struggle to create a similarly full, glossy mane without a little helping hand.

Speculation as to whether the Duchess’s hair is entirely her own has circulated since her November 2010 engagement, but understandably neither she nor Kensington Palace has ever commented on the matter and she continues to ignite a serious dose of hair-envy in millions of women globally. 

“It’s impossible to say for certain unless you’re actually handling her hair,” Gold Fever’s Katie Jane Goldin, whose clients include Rosanna Davison, Georgia Salpa, and Roz Purcell, explains to SHEmazing! “But to have a such an incredible, gorgeous mane without some help from well-positioned extensions would be extremely rare.”

She adds: “So either she’s struck the hair-lottery – or she’s been quite clever in how she uses enhancements.

“These days, the best hair extensions look and feel exactly like your own natural strands do. You’d actually be surprised at how many people from all walks of life wear them.”