Kate Middleton Beats Prince William As Most Popular Royal; Harry, Meghan Markle Among Least Favorable
Kate Middleton is now the most popular member of the British royal family, while the majority of Brits continue to have unfavorable opinions of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, a new survey has found.
According to the latest royal family favorability poll by YouGov, the Princess of Wales beat her husband, Prince William, in popularity in the U.K. amid her battle with cancer.
The poll conducted from April 2 to 3 showed that 76% of Brits have a positive view of Middleton, marking an increase of six percentage points since January.
This appears to be the first time Middleton has overtaken Prince William in popularity in a YouGov favorability poll, according to the market research and data analytics firm's tracker.
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Prince William is a close second with 73%, but there is a large gap between the couple's overall favorability as more people have a negative view of the Prince of Wales in the April survey.
According to the poll, 21% of respondents view Prince William negatively, giving him a net favorability of 52%.
On the other hand, just 15% of Brits said they have a negative view of Princess Kate, which makes her net favorability 61%.
(Photo : YUI MOK/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
This marks a significant drop in overall popularity for Prince William. In YouGov's February poll, 77% had a favorable opinion of him, while just 16% had a negative opinion of the heir to the British throne, resulting in a 61% overall favorability score.
The royal family member with the lowest percentage of negative opinions in the April survey is Princess Anne, who came third in the popularity list with 71%.
Only 13% of respondents view Queen Elizabeth II's only daughter negatively, resulting in a 58% net favorability score.
Princess Anne is followed by her brother, King Charles, of whom 63% of Brits have a positive view.
Coming in at fifth is their younger brother Prince Edward, who had a 54% positive score.
(Photo : JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Markle and Prince Harry -- who moved to the U.S. in 2020 after stepping back from royal duties -- are among the three least popular royals, with only 26% of Brits having a favorable opinion of the former and 31% the latter.
According to the April poll, 61% of respondents have a negative view of the Duke of Sussex, while 64% don't like his wife.
Disgraced royal Prince Andrew -- who faced rape allegations that he reportedly agreed in 2022 to never publicly deny again -- continues to be the most disliked member of the British monarchy, with 86% of Brits having a negative opinion of him compared to just 6% who have a positive view.
According to another YouGov poll, the most beloved royal in the U.K. for the first quarter of 2024 remains the late Queen Elizabeth II, who died at age 96 in September 2022. Around 77% of Brits have a positive opinion of the late queen.
She is followed by Princess Kate with 71% and Prince William with 67%.
Princess Anne is the fourth most liked British royal for Q1 2024 with 65%, followed by King Charles with 58%.
When it comes to fame, however, Prince Harry topped YouGov's most famous royalty list for the first quarter of 2024.
(Photo : Joshua Sammer/Getty Images for Invictus Games Dusseldorf 2023)
According to the poll, 100% of the respondents have heard of the Duke of Sussex, though only 34% have a favorable opinion of him.
He is followed by his older brother Prince William (97%), uncle Prince Andrew (97%), grandmother Queen Elizabeth II (96%), and father King Charles (96%).
Markle ranked ninth in terms of fame (94%) and 13th in popularity (26%) out of 14 royals.
