Andrew Milligan – PA ImagesGetty Images
In the court of public opinion, Queen Elizabeth still reigns, well, queen of the royal family. In a new poll by YouGov, Queen Elizabeth beat out the rest of her family as the most favored member of the bunch, receiving a 72 percent popular opinion.
Prince Harry followed his grandmother in second place, knocking him down a spot from last year’s study. Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Meghan Markle all followed in third, fourth, and sixth place, respectively.
Meghan’s popularity dropped from last year by six percent, giving her a 49 percent popular opinion. However, she’s still not the least-liked royal, as Prince Charles, Camilla Bowles, Princess Beatrice, and more followed behind her. In total 15 royals were ranked in the study, which gathered research from 9,000 interviews from June 2018 to June 2019.
In a recent interview with Express, royal expert Tim Ewart, discussed how the royals will struggle with a serious popularity problem once the Queen dies.
“The reality for the monarchy is that when the Queen dies, one of the reasons for the monarchy’s popularity will be gone,” he said. “A large part of the popularity of the monarchy is based on the popularity of the Queen. Will that transfer to her son? Open question, we don’t know, but there are suggestions that he’s not as popular as she is.”
However, Ewart has faith in the younger generation of royals, specifically Meghan and Harry, to keep the royal family’s popularity in tact when that time comes.
“I think what Harry and Meghan have done is appeal very greatly to a younger generation,” he added. “Which is what the Queen wanted.”