A new YouGov poll on the British royal family asked Americans for their views of royal family members both living and dead, including their thoughts on the move to the U.S. of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the cancer diagnosis of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
Americans are most likely to hold a very or somewhat favorable view of Diana, Princess of Wales (76%), who died in 1997. Majorities also have favorable opinions of Queen Elizabeth II (67%) — who died in 2022 — and Prince William, Prince of Wales (58%). Around half have favorable views of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (53%), Catherine, Princess of Wales (52%) and Princess Anne, the Princess Royal (47%). Only 42% view King Charles III favorably.
The royals included in the poll whom Americans are least likely to view favorably are Prince Andrew, Duke of York (28%) and Camilla, the Queen Consort (30%).
In a September 2024 poll, Britons generally are more likely than Americans to have favorable views of the royals asked about, with two exceptions: Prince Andrew (viewed favorably by 5% of Britons) and Megan, Duchess of Sussex (21%). (Polling in the UK did not ask about Diana, Princess of Wales or Queen Elizabeth II.)
3% of Americans think King Charles III’s record as Britain’s monarch will go down in history as outstanding. 10% say his record will be above average, 38% say it will be average, 14% say it will be below average, and 6% say it will be poor. 28% are not sure.
Views were very similar in February 2024: 2% thought King Charles III's record would go down as outstanding, 38% thought his record would go down as average, 12% thought it would be above average and 16% thought it would be below average.
53% of Americans say their opinion of Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex has not changed since the couple moved to the U.S. in June 2020. 14% of Americans say they now have a better opinion of the pair and 18% now have a worse opinion of them. Americans are more likely to approve (42%) of their decision to move than to disapprove (20%). 13% say their move to the U.S. was good for the U.S., 8% say it was bad for the country, and the majority (59%) say it was neither good nor bad.
Are the members of the royal family good or bad role models? 22% think they are mostly good role models, 11% think they are mostly bad role models, and 48% think they’re an even mix of good role models and bad ones.
The majority of Americans think it would be a bad thing for the U.S. to have a monarchy (62%), roughly the same share who said this in February 2024 (65%). Only 7% think it would be a good thing and 16% say it would be neither a good nor a bad thing. In February 2024, 9% said it would be a good thing and 13% said it would be neither a good nor a bad thing.
72% of Americans have heard about Catherine, Princess of Wales being diagnosed with cancer; 16% say they have heard a lot about this. In March 2024, she released a video message saying she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
Related:
- King Charles III’s new portrait is uniting royal fans and haters: Neither group likes it
- How popular are the British royals in America?
- Meghan and Harry’s favorability ratings take a hit, although they are still popular overall
See the results for this YouGov poll
Methodology: The poll was conducted online among 1,109 U.S. adult citizens from November 12 - 14, 2024. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
