The Royal Family has been engulfed in several scandals and dramas through the years and the public’s perception of them has changed quite dramatically, according to the latest figures.
Just in the last six years, the world saw three big royal weddings, the death of the UK’s longest-serving monarch, the departure of three senior working royals, the King’s shock cancer diagnosis and Kate, the Princess of Wales temporarily stepping back from official royal duties after undergoing planned abdominal surgery back in January.
Meanwhile the breakdown of Prince Harry‘s relationship with his family and his departure from the Firm – and subsequent move to the US with wife Meghan Markle after which they unleashed a series of explosive claims against the royals – has contributed to the public’s changed perception of them.
Here, Express.co.uk takes a look at how the Royal Family’s popularity in Britain has changed in the last six years.
According to YouGov’s findings about the most popular royals in 2018, the list was very different to what it is today.
2018 saw the weddings of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as well as that of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
It also saw the birth of the Prince and Princess of Wales’s third child, Prince Louis.
The 15 most popular royals, according to their popularity rating (the percentage of people with a positive opinion), in 2018 were:
While Queen Elizabeth remained a firm favourite throughout the years, Harry’s ongoing rift with the royals saw his and Meghan’s popularity plunge dramatically. Prince Andrew‘s popularity also decreased after he was stripped of his royal titles.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice saw their popularity increase respectively.
According to YouGov’s total findings for 2023, the most popular royals were:
Meanwhile, this year did not have the best start for the Firm as in January it was reported the Princess of Wales was admitted to hospital, only a few days before King Charles had to do the same thing for an enlarged prostate procedure, before being diagnosed with a form of cancer. The cancer is said to not be linked to his prostate operation.
Meanwhile, following her surgery, Princess Kate had to take time off her royal duties until after Easter, with public worry about her whereabouts and well-being skyrocketing.
On top of that, in the last two weeks, Kate has been at the centre of discussions following her digitally altered Mother’s Day picture, which sparked a huge wave of conspiracy theories to circulate online.
According to the latest YouGov favourability survey, commissioned last February, Prince William emerged as the most popular living member of the royal family, at 77 percent with Princess Kate closely following with 74 percent.
Prince Harry‘s popularity reached 33 percent, while Meghan followed with 27 percent.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla’s favourability among the British public reached 50 percent.