The Princess of Wales and her husband are popular across the generations
With rampant speculation about Kate Middleton’s wellbeing coming to a screeching halt following the Princess of Wales’ revelation that she has cancer, a new YouGov survey finds that she is now the most well-thought-of royal among the public.
Three quarters of Britons (76%) say they have a positive view of the Princess of Wales, up six points since the start of the year.
Similarly popular is husband William, at 73%, although more people have a negative view of the Prince of Wales (21%, compared to Kate’s 15%).
Royal family favourability, April 2024
Thinking about the royal family, for each of the following please say whether you have a positive or negative opinion of them? %
YouGov 2022
Princess Anne comes in third, at 71%. Only 13% have a negative view of the Princess Royal, the lowest for any royal we asked about.
King Charles himself continues to be broadly popular, with 63% having a favourable opinion of the king compared to 30% who are unfavourable.
Meanwhile Prince Harry and wife Meghan continue to be unpopular, with only 31% having a positive opinion of the former and 26% the latter.
And Prince Andrew remains the least popular of all, with a mere 6% of Britons having a positive view of the Duke of York, compared to 86% who have a negative opinion.
YouGov royal family favourability tracker, 2011 – April 2024
Thinking about the royal family, for each of the following please say whether you have a positive or negative opinion of them. % who say they have a positive opinion of each royal.
As ever, attitudes differ by age, with younger Britons continuing to have a more negative view of the royals. The exception is with Prince Harry and Meghan, whom 18-24 year olds tend to be more positive towards than their elders – although that is not to say the Sussexes are well-liked by the young, who are instead divided in their opinion on the couple.
While the King himself may be unpopular among the youngest generation (only 32% have a positive opinion), the Prince and particularly Princess of Wales are popular among this group. Half of 18-24 year olds (52%) say they like Kate Middleton compared to only 21% who do not, while Prince William is liked by 49% and disliked by 30%.
