On the day that Meghan Markle‘s long-delayed Netflix series, With Love, Meghan, finally attempts to cook up a storm on streaming, Kate Middleton has risen up to steal the Duchess of Sussex’s thunder in what has become a regular royal tradition.
It’s no secret that Meghan is treated as persona non grata in the British press, portrayed more like a scheming supervillain than a woman who simply moved across the pond with her husband and kids. The duchess herself is fully aware of how the British public feels about her, and she and Prince Harry have spoken about the devastating backlash at length in prior Netflix series and other interviews. Even so, this latest dent to her pride must hurt, coming as it does on her big day.
Kate Middleton once again declared the most popular royal as Meghan’s rating plummets
The latest Royal Family popularity ratings from YouGov are in, and they reveal a depressingly familiar pattern for the Sussexes — and yet another heartwarming win for the Wales. Continuing a trend that began in April 2024, the first poll taken following the announcement of her cancer diagnosis, Kate is once again declared the U.K.’s most popular royal, with her spouse Prince William in second place.
Princess Kate has retained her stranglehold on the top spot, earning a net favorability of +59 in the newest poll (via Geo News). William is not far behind his other half with a score of +56. Overall, both Waleses are positively viewed by a whopping 74% of Britons. The third place holder might be a surprising choice to some, considering her lesser notoriety, but then that’s probably the point: Princess Anne is the nations #3 royal, with an approval rating of +55.
King Charles’ own popularity is more mixed, however. Although he is liked by six out of 10 U.K. citizens, a further 34% have negative opinions about him. In fact, Charles has hit a new low as his net favorability is at just +25, a full eight point slip from his +33 rating in the last poll. This is officially his worst rating since he became king.
Even so, he’s still six full points above his estranged daughter-in-law. Meghan Markle continues to perform poorly in YouGov’s polls, with this latest update earning her a net favorability of just +19, which coincidentally makes her the nation’s 19th most well-liked member of the Royal Family. This means that she’s managed to slip below even Prince Andrew, who sits in 17th place. That’s quite the feat considering he’s been in the news for all the wrong reasons yet again recently.
In some good news for the Sussex camp, Prince Harry is faring better these days, being named as the U.K.’s 10th most popular living royal. 42% of people still dislike him, but hey, at least it’s lower than 50%. Kate’s continuing domination of the popularity charts is no surprise, and well-earned, but Meghan languishing lower than her uncle-in-law who is a known confederate of Jeffrey Epstein feels particularly cruel. She’ll be hoping With Love, Meghan performs better on the Netflix popularity charts.
Published: Mar 4, 2025 08:54 am