The Duchess of Cambridge has donated some of her hair to go towards making wigs for young patients suffering from cancer.

The 36-year-old's hairdresser is believed to have trimmed more than seven inches from her usual length.

An aide is believed to have picked up the hair which is thought to have been sent to the Little Princess Trust.

The organisation helps make wigs for children who have lost their own hair after receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy treatment.

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge is believed to have donated seven inches of hair to the Little Princess Trust

The idea is believed to have come to the Duchess after she had her hair cut at Kensington Palace by hairdresser Joey, 30, who works for Richard Ward Hair in Chelsea.

'Four months ago Joey persuaded her it was time to take off some of her hair; he said it was just getting too long,' a royal source told the Daily Express.

The idea came to her of doing some good with it rather than throwing it away

'While Joey was snipping away the idea came to her of doing some good with it rather than throwing it away.

'She mentioned it to Joey, who thought it was a brilliant idea.

'It was sent using someone else's name, so that the trust didn't know it was from a royal source – they just thought it was from a female donor in the Kensington area.'

The source added: 'It's lovely to think somewhere a little girl is happily wearing a wig made from a real princess's hair. It's a very heartwarming thing for Kate to have done, and very thoughtful to use hair that would have otherwise just been thrown away.'

The Duchess is not the first public figure to donate their locks to the Trust, with One Direction star Harry Styles sending his ponytail to the organisation in 2016.

A picture which Styles posted onto social media managed to amass more than two million likes on Instagram.

The Little Princess Trust has been running for 12 years and was set up by the parents of Hannah Tarplee.

The young girl who attended Hereford Cathedral Junior School passed away aged just five from a cancerous tumour, despite chemotherapy treatment to help save her.

A spokesperson for the charity said: 'Losing her hair was traumatic for Hannah but finding high quality wigs for children was difficult and only after a long search was a firm found which made a wig for her.

'She enjoyed wearing her wig, particularly on special occasions.

'After Hannah died, her parents, Wendy and Simon, set up a charity providing free children's wigs.'

Hannah's mother, Wendy Tarplee-Morris, says: 'We have given away 5,500 real hair wigs to sick children which is astonishing. We've also been able to fund research into finding causes and cures for paediatric cancer and research on less toxic treatments.'

The Duchess (left) is not the first public figure to donate their locks to the Trust, with One Direction star Harry Styles (right) sending his ponytail to the organisation in 2016

Since the charity was established in 2006, it now also helps fund research into minimising the effects of chemotherapy on children.

The charity, who boasts Olympic gold medal winner Joanna Rowsell-Shand and ballet dancer Jennie Harrington among its patrons, said it was not aware of a donation from the Duchess of Cambridge - but added it did accept anonymous donations.

A spokesperson for the charity said: 'We are not aware of having any donation made by the Duchess of Cambridge, but if she had sent us some hair, she may have decided to make it anonymously, understandably after the attention given to the donation made by Harry Styles.'

MailOnline has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.