Most popular royal revealed as shocking figures put formerly popular royals in the lower ranks

The most popular royal, according to a recent poll, is no surprise to royal watchers but many are surprised at Kate Middleton's rank

Queen Elizabeth II and members of the British Royal family stand on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during the Trooping the Colour parade
(Image credit: Photo by James Devaney/FilmMagic via Getty)

The most popular royal, according to a recent YouGov poll, is the one and only Princess Anne. The Princess Royal is often referred to as the most hardworking royal and is seen to exemplify that being a 'spare' needn't be a drag.


Princess Anne of Britain arrives for the funeral service of former King of Greece Constantine II in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, on January 16, 2023. - Dozens of European royals and hundreds of Greeks gathered in Athens on January 16, 2023, for the funeral of Greece's last king, Constantine II, who died aged 82.

(Image credit: Aris Messinis / AFP/Getty Images)

She may not be the monarch, but she's definitely the Royal Family's popularity queen with a remarkable 72% approval rating, per a recent YouGov survey. Following in her wake are the Wales, with Prince William outranking his wife the Princess of Wales Kate Middleton by 70% to 68%.

King Charles didn't make the top three, but comes in fourth with 62% and Camilla Queen Consort comes in sixth with 46% approval rating. Although it's unclear if the latter's popularity has been affected in the wake of her step son Prince Harry's memoir Spare - there's no avoiding the claims made in its pages. Claims that are less than flattering to his step mother Camilla Parker Bowles.

Camilla

(Image credit: Getty)

The Prince alleges that Queen Camilla turned his bedroom into a dressing room after he left home, and that she courts favorable press attention via close friendships with British journalists. Despite these allegations and others made against his family, the person whose popularity has plummeted, per the poll, is the Prince himself.

Ranked third to last on the poll, Prince Harry's 24% approval sees him above his wife Meghan Markle, 22%, and Prince Andrew, 7%. Among those aged over 65, however, Prince Andrew has a higher approval rating than the Sussexes. This, even to staunch royalists, is a shocking figure in light of the scandal surrounding allegations of sexual assault made against Prince Andrew, which he denies.

Prince Harry waves as he leaves Nottingham's new Central Police Station on October 26, 2016 in Nottingham, England.

(Image credit: Joe Giddins/WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Prince Harry’s heartbreaking inspiration for his book's title refers to the concept of an, “heir and a spare," which is when a second child is born as a back up in case anything happens to the family's heir to the throne. Interestingly, Princess Anne technically could be considered as a 'spare' as she was the second born child of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Despite this, the Princess has seemingly enjoyed a content life, carving out her own path in her equestrian career as well as being a working royal.

The Princess Royal is also known as the hardest working royal and highly regarded by many fans of the monarchy for her keep calm and carry on attitude. This attitude was clear when she was the first member of the Royal Family to make a public appearance after leaks from Spare set the internet on fire.

Aoife Hanna
Junior News Editor

Aoife is an Irish journalist and writer with a background in creative writing, comedy, and TV production.

Formerly woman&home's junior news editor and a contributing writer at Bustle, her words can be found in the Metro, Huffpost, Delicious, Imperica and EVOKE.

Her poetry features in the Queer Life, Queer Love anthology.

Outside of work you might bump into her at a garden center, charity shop, yoga studio, lifting heavy weights, or (most likely) supping/eating some sort of delicious drink/meal.