Queen Mary turned heads as she stepped out onto the balcony of Frederik VIII’s Palace to celebrate her husband King Frederik’s 56th birthday.
Royal watchers instantly noticed a surprising new detail – Queen Mary is the latest well-known figure to embrace a trending hair look that’s gained pace recently. The elegant Royal wore her brunette hair styled in soft waves, with the addition of bright highlights focused just around the front section of her locks.
Particularly popular among Gen-Z, the approach, known as ‘Money Piece’ highlights, involves strategically colouring sections of hair around the face a lighter colour. This helps focus attention and add a flattering lift around the face to help make your features pop.
The hair transformation was perfectly timed for the beginning of the northern hemisphere summer and helped compliment her fabulous long-sleeve pink pleated midi dress by Italian fashion label No.21.

The new look may well have been thanks to a brand-new hair stylist. Queen Mary’s long-serving hair stylist Søren Hedegaard recently retired from the role as Mary ascended to Queen Consort as her husband took the throne in January.
Hedegaard, who worked for the Royal for 23 years, is the creative director of Danish hairdressing chain STUHR and stated in an Instagram post at the time he was ‘passing the baton on to the next’ generation. He said he was grateful for the ‘amazing and unforgettable’ times but now wishes to focus his energy on his company.
Though the money piece highlighting trend has been enthusiastically embraced by the younger generation, it looks fantastic on people of any age, as Queen Mary, 52, clearly shows. The look is not dissimilar to Amal Clooney’s recent hair update, though the lawyer’s rich ‘caramel macchiato’ highlights are a more subtle take. Celebrities such as Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Hailey Bieber and plenty more have also embraced the trend.
In recent times local stylists have reported the approach is growing in popularity, working well on all hair colours, including grey hair.
Of course, many of us will remember an earlier incarnation of the trend taking hold in the 90s.
Few could escape the influence of Jennifer Aniston’s hairstyle on hit sitcom ‘Friends’ during its 1994-2004 run. Anniston’s flippy layered style went on to become known simple as ‘The Rachel’ after her character on the show, and early incarnations involved ‘money piece’ highlights around the face.
Around the same time, the Spice Girls were capturing the world’s attention, and ‘Ginger Spice’ Geri Halliwell became known for her ginger locks with highlights around the face.
With the 90s and 00s influences making a dominant return to fashion and beauty, it’s no surprise the hair look is back in style.