The popularity of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex slumped ahead of the launch of their documentary series
Prince Harry’s popularity has tumbled this winter as his wife, Meghan Markle, continues to fall out of favour among Britons.
The popularity of prominent members of the royal family has generally declined since November.
But the proportion of people who say they have a positive opinion of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has dropped significantly.
This week saw the royal pair grab headlines across the globe as a Netflix documentary purporting to give the officially sanctioned inside scoop on their lives began to air.
In the weeks ahead of its launch, however, public opinion of Prince Harry slumped – just a third of Britons (33%) now have a positive opinion of him, while 59% have a negative one.
According to the latest YouGov royal favourability tracker, that leaves him with a net score of -26, the result of subtracting the proportion of Britons who have a negative opinion of him from the share who have a positive one. That represents a drop of 13 points since November and his joint lowest score.
That’s the same position where Prince Harry was in May, when the tracker recorded his lowest ever score before opinions softened and his popularity was boosted around the time of the late Queen’s death in September (when he had a net score of +1).
Meghan Markle is now looked upon positively by just a quarter of Britons (25%), with Prince Andrew (7%) the only royal family member with less popularity among the public.
Nearly two-thirds of people (64%) now have a negative opinion of the Duchess, giving her a net score of -39, a 7 point drop since November.
More than eight in ten 65-and-overs (84%) say they have a negative opinion of the Duchess of Sussex, including 70% who have a “very negative” opinion.
Older Britons far prefer Prince William to his brother Prince Harry
The only age group more likely to hold a slightly more positive opinion than a negative opinion of Meghan Markle is the 18 to 24 year-olds, 40% think positively of her, while 38% think negatively.
Prince Harry’s favourability also remains highest among the younger generations, while he has fallen out of favour with many older people.
YouGov’s tracker shows half of 18 to 24 year-olds (49%) and 73% of 25 to 49 year-olds think positively of the prince (29% and 18%, respectively, think negatively).
But older people are far more likely to prefer his brother and his wife than they are Harry and Meghan.
The popularity of Prince William and Princess Catherine has also declined this winter; the Prince of Wales now has a net score of +69 (a 7 point drop since November) while the Princess of Wales has a net score of +64 (-7).
That makes the pair currently the most popular royals – and especially among the 65-and-overs, who have an overwhelmingly positive view of them. Nearly nine in ten of that age group (89%) have a positive opinion of Catherine, while the same proportion think positively of her husband (89%).
The Prince and Princess of Wales are most unpopular among the 18 to 24 year-olds, with 31% thinking negatively of Prince William and the same proportion holding a negative opinion of his wife.
However, among all age groups they are thought of more positively than negatively.
Aside from William and Catherine, the most popular royal is currently Princess Anne (72% hold a positive opinion).
Prince Andrew is the most unpopular, with just 7% of Britons holding a positive opinion and 86% a negative one – though with a net score of -79 his is the only rating that has stayed steady among the public.
Photo: Getty
