The royal family has been embroiled in several scandals and dramas over the years, and the public’s perception has changed dramatically, according to the latest figures.
In the last six years alone, the world has witnessed three major royal weddings, the death of Britain’s longest-serving monarch, the departure of three senior working royals, the King’s shocking cancer diagnosis and Kate, the Princess of Wales, temporarily stepping down from her official royal duties duties after undergoing elective abdominal surgery in January.
Meanwhile, the breakdown of Prince Harry’s relationship with his family and his departure from the company – and subsequent move to the US with his wife Meghan Markle, which sparked a series of explosive lawsuits against the royals – has resulted in a changing perception of the royals the public contributed.
Here, Express.co.uk takes a look at how the royal family’s popularity in Britain has changed over the last six years.
According to YouGov’s findings about the most popular royals in 2018, the list was very different to today.
In 2018, the weddings of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as well as those of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank took place.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ third child, Prince Louis, was also born there.
The 15 most popular royals, measured by popularity (percentage of people with a positive opinion), in 2018 were:
While Queen Elizabeth remained a clear favorite over the years, Harry and Meghan’s popularity fell dramatically due to the ongoing dispute between Harry and the royals. Prince Andrew’s popularity also declined after he was stripped of his royal titles.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice each saw their popularity rise.
According to YouGov’s overall results for 2023, the most popular royals were:
Meanwhile, the company hasn’t had the best start to this year, as it was reported in January that the Princess of Wales was hospitalized just days before King Charles had to do the same for an enlarged prostate before being diagnosed with one form of cancer. The cancer is not believed to be related to his prostate surgery.
Meanwhile, Princess Kate was forced to take a break from royal duties until after Easter following her operation as public concern about her whereabouts and well-being skyrocketed.
Additionally, Kate has been at the center of controversy over the past two weeks following her digitally altered Mother’s Day photo, which sparked a huge wave of conspiracy theories circulating online.
According to the latest findings YouGov According to a popularity poll commissioned last February, Prince William is the most popular living member of the royal family at 77 percent, closely followed by Princess Kate at 74 percent.
Prince Harry’s popularity reached 33 percent, Meghan followed with 27 percent.
Meanwhile, Queen Camilla’s popularity among the British public reached 50 percent.