Prince William, Kate Middleton no longer top UK royal family approval ratings

Theresa Braine, New York Daily News on Oct 14, 2026

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The UK’s Princess Anne has edged past Prince William and Kate Middleton, to become the most popular British royal, according to new royal approval ratings in the U.K.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are usually perched atop the favorite royals list in the periodic poll taken by the respected YouGov Ratings agency. But for the third quarter of 2026, the Princess Royal’s popularity topped out at 67%, a few percentage points ahead of Middleton’s 64% and William’s 62%, YouGov Ratings’ results showed. All fell below their 70-plus marks from earlier in the year.

Anne’s older brother King Charles III trailed with 53% popularity at number four, and his wife, Queen Consort Camilla, was eight on the list at 33%. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the nonworking-royal Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were numbers 10 and 13, with 29% and 22% popularity ratings, respectively.

Anne has been described as Britain’s hardest-working royal, known for her no-nonsense approach and dry wit, though Charles of late has outstripped her. The Princess Royal is the second of the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip’s four children. She and big brother Charles have been besties since childhood, and she remains a close confidante and staunch ally.

The top three royals fared similarly in net approval ratings, which subtracts the percent of respondents who dislike them from those who do. That calculation still put them in the positive, given the low percentage of people who said they disliked each royal. For instance, just 7% of respondents registered dislike for Anne, putting her net at 60%. That beat Princess Kate’s 56% after subtracting the 8% who said they dislike her.

In contrast, Harry and Meghan’s popularity ratings were underwater, with his 41% dislikes putting him at minus-12, and her at minus-27, with 49% of respondents registering dislike. While their recent return from California after six years gave them a slight boost, they still remain on the outs with most of the rest of the royal family.

The results help gauge the popularity of the monarchy as an institution, given that royal family members are not elected. About a quarter of Great Britain’s population wants the monarchical system to be replaced by a republic, while most approve of it continuing.

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