Did you know that Marie Antoinette’s hair apparently turned grey overnight after hearing news of her death sentence? Whether this is a myth or a true story, the following case report of sudden whitening/ greying of hair, is a true story.

The authors report a 82-year old woman who over the course of a few days (not really overnight), lost all the darker coloured hairs on the scalp, leaving just the white/ grey hairs intact; thus giving the illusion of sudden greying of hair. This phenomenon is rare but is reported and is usually due to a condition called alopecia areata, which usually only target pigmented hairs.  This leaves the white hairs behind and thus the illusion of sudden whitening/ greying of hair.

Now Marie Antoinette’s story might not be entirely true but stress can trigger alopecia areata and she might have experienced a similar phenomenon. However the word ‘overnight’ is certainly a dramatization!! It is impossible for existing dark hair to turn white even in a few weeks, unless its hair dye!

Interested folk can also read this interesting piece in the guardian about how this has been dramatised by historians, in the literature.

Sudden whitening of the hair in an 82-year-old woman: the ‘overnight greying’ phenomenon

1. S. P. Tan,
2. R. B. Weller

Article first published online: 14 MAY 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2230.2011.04211.x

© The Author(s). CED © 2012 British Association of Dermatologists

Issue

Clinical and Experimental Dermatology

Volume 37, Issue 4, pages 458–459, June 2012