Princes William and Harry are the most liked members of the Royal Family, a poll has revealed, with the soon-to-be married Harry enjoying the biggest surge in popularity during the last five years.
While three in five people, or 62%, listed Prince William among their two of three top Royals - the same percentage as in 2012 - it was Prince Harry who enjoyed the biggest shift in public favour, from 36% to 58%, the Ipsos MORI data found.
So just three months out from his wedding to Meghan Markle, Harry trails his older brother by just 4%.
Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos MORI, said: “There’s little sign of the Royal Family losing their support among the public, and importantly for the future it’s not just reliant on the Queen herself, with William, Kate and Harry joining her with favourability ratings most politicians could barely dream of.”
The Duchess of Cambridge slipped from 23% to 21%, but the biggest drop in popularity was reserved for her father-in-law, Prince Charles, who plunged from 21% in 2012 to just 9%.
The Queen, the poll found, remains popular with almost half of Britons surveyed - 47% - naming her among their top pics, almost an identical result to 2012 - 48%.
Amongst women, Prince William was a particular favourite with almost 70% mentioning the Duke of Cambridge as one of their two or three favourite Royals. Among men, Prince William slipped to 54% and the Duchess of Cambridge, 13%. Among women, Kate was a favourite among 28%.
Prince Harry’s popularity, however, is evenly distributed across genders with him being only slightly less popular (1%) among men - 57%, than with women, 58%.
Skinner said: “Prince Harry has become more popular amongst all sections of society over the last few years, and while not everyone has an opinion yet on Meghan Markle, those who do are much more positive than negative – especially women.”
The poll found that age is “a factor when determining which Royals are the public’s favourites”.
More than half (56%) of those aged 55+ name the Queen as their top pick, compared with 36% of those aged 18-34.
In contrast, Prince Harry, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge are particularly popular among the younger generation. Two-thirds of 18-34s selected Prince William as one of their favourites, compared with 53% of those aged 55 or over – similarly two-thirds of 18-34s chose Harry as one of their most liked, compared with 47% of the 55%.
When asked about how favourable or unfavourable their impressions were towards the Royal Family, Prince Harry came out on top with 87%, followed by the Queen, 85%, Prince William, 83% and Kate Middleton, 78%. Ipsos MORI concluded: “All receive very positive ratings”.
Other favourability ratings towards members of the Royal Family include Prince Phillip, seen as favourable by 60% (16% unfavourable), Prince Charles who is seen as favourable by 54% (24% unfavourable) and Camilla Parker Bowles who is seen as favourable by 31% (36% unfavourable).
Most (54% of those surveyed) are also favourable towards the soon-to-be newest member of the family, Meghan Markle. Few “give a negative opinion” (just 8% unfavourable), while three in ten (27%) are neither favourable nor unfavourable.
Again, women tend to have particularly favourable views, notably for the Queen, Prince William, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and the Duchess of Cambridge, the poll found.
When asked if US President Donald Trump should be invited to Harry and Megan’s nuptials, 69% said he should be left off the guest list, while 23% said he should attend.
If Harry’s friend, former president Barack Obama, gets invited the figures changed, but didn’t sway far enough to be in favor of Trump, with 39% saying he should go, versus 54% who still believed he shouldn’t.
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,031 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 19th January – 23rd January 2018. Data are weighted to the profile of the population.
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,031 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 19th January – 23rd January 2018