The Queen Just Edged Out Prince Harry in Poll of the U.K.’s Most Popular Royalty

Julie Sprankles

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Headlines about the younger members of the royal family are a dime a dozen. But a new poll voted on by people of the U.K. reveals that Queen Elizabeth is the most popular royal family member. Each year, YouGov publishes a poll gauging public opinion about the U.K.’s royal family. And, according to this year’s poll, Queen Elizabeth is “the most popular royalty and the 2nd most famous.” Surprised? Brace yourself, because you may be even more shocked when you find out where a few other “favorite” members of the monarchy rank.

Her Majesty the Queen has a 72 percent positive opinion in YouGov’s ratings, and is described by fans as “admirable, hard-working, respected, dignified and dedicated.” Sounds about right, no? If you’re astonished one of the late Princess Diana’s sons didn’t snag the top spot, rest assured they weren’t far behind. Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, just barely missed out with a 71 percent positive opinion rating. Not surprisingly, fans cite his redeeming characteristics as being “admirable, likable, humorous, confident and fun-loving.” Harry had the top spot last year, although something tells us he doesn’t mind being bumped down in the rankings for his grandmother.

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Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, snagged the third and fourth spots with 69 percent and 64 percent approval ratings, respectively. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, rounded out the top five with 54 percent.

Wondering where in the world Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, is? Well, she came in at the sixth most popular royal. While her approval rating is only 49 percent, it was still enough to rank her over more established royals like Prince Charles (7th), Zara Phillips (9th), Princess Eugenie (13th) and Princess Beatrice (14th). Fans who did vote favorably for Meghan described the former Suits star as being “confident, attractive, beautiful, charming and admirable.”

The rankings represent a six percent drop in popularity for Meghan, but the dip could be a reflection the barrage of negative press in the U.K. that centers on the Sussex household. On Sunday, one headline claimed the Duchess “shuns” royal aides for advice in favor of asking her mother, Doria Ragland, for parenting tips. For most of us, calling our moms anytime we have a pressing life question probably seems pretty routine. However, Meghan is clearly being held to a different standard, no matter how unfair that often is.

Of course, it would be interesting to see how a popularity poll like this might yield different results if it opened to voters outside of the U.K. As it is, YouGov’s ratings represent interviews with 9,000 British voters.

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