Remember, in the early weeks of March, when even the most loyal royal reporters said that the British royal family was “perilously close” to its “11th hour?” These dire predictions about the monarchy’s imminent collapse came from pundits and pretty much everyone one else in the world who thought that the people around Kate Middleton, including her husband and palace aides, had badly handled global concerns about her health and whereabouts.
But what a difference a few weeks make — plus Kate’s monumental decision on March 22 to release a game-changing video, in which she revealed the news that she has cancer.
Since then, a new poll shows that the Princess of Wales has become the most “well-thought-of” royal in the U.K. The YouGov survey, conducted April 2 and 3, shows that three-quarters of more than 2000 British adults surveyed — or 76% — said they have a positive view of her, up six points since the start of the year. Only 15% of Britons have a negative view of her.
In her video, the mother of three, dressed in an “everyday mum uniform” of jeans and sweater, sat on a garden bench and forthrightly told the world she had cancer. She explained she had been missing from royal duties since Christmas Day because she had undergone major abdominal surgery, subsequently learned she had an unspecified form of cancer and shared that she was undergoing chemotherapy. But the future queen also assured the world, “I am well and getting stronger every day.” She further explained that she and William took some time to go public with her diagnosis because they wanted to give their young children the time and space to adjust to the news.
Kate’s announcement may be one of the most consequential speeches from a member of the British royal family in recent memory, with writers on both sides of the Atlantic praising her poise and pronouncing that she showed “the fortitude” of the late Queen Elizabeth II. Well wishes poured in from world leaders and A-list celebrities, while a few well-known American figures apologized for cracking jokes about her being missing a few weeks earlier. With the exception of a few loud and toxic outliers, conspiracy theories about Kate’s health have mostly quieted down.
While Kate’s speech solidified her importance in the monarchy, her husband also remains popular, with 73% thinking well of him, according to the YouGov survey. It’s interesting that his popularity remains high, considering that the future king came in for plenty of negative criticism and speculation during the “KateGate” controversy.
American late-night host Stephen Colbert brought up speculation about marital troubles to explain Kate’s retreat from royal duties, citing an old, unsubstantiated rumor that William cheated. Critics also scolded William for the P.R. debacle that led to Kensington Palace releasing a digitally manipulated image of Kate and their three children on March 10, Mother’s Day in the U.K. The release of the photo prompted royal observers to ask whether the palace and the Prince and Princess of Wales had lost all credibility with the public and the media.
Critics also accused William of throwing his wife “under the bus” after she came forward on social media to apologize for editing the photo. Perhaps this explains why more people surveyed (21%) have a negative view of him than they do of his wife.
But overall, the YouGov survey suggests that the royal family have weathered this PR crisis related to how the royal family handled disclosures about Kate’s health — at least for now.
Meanwhile, the survey shows that Princess Anne comes in third — at 71% — when it comes to favorability in the U.K. Coming in fourth is King Charles III himself. He remains “broadly popular,” with 63% of respondents having a favorable opinion of him, compared to 30% who have an unfavorable view.
Far down on this list are Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who continue to be unpopular in the U.K., with only 31% and 26% of Britons, respectively, having positive views of the California-based Duke and Duchess of Sussex, YouGov found. Indeed, some 61% of adults surveyed view Harry negatively, even though he was once one of Briton’s most favorable royals. His American wife Meghan is disliked by even more of the British public, with 65% having a negative view of her.
If there’s any consolation for the Sussexes — who left royal life in 2020 and who are struggling to establish themselves as media moguls and global thought leaders — they tend to score a bit higher with younger adults, YouGov found. Among people 18-24, some 39% have a positive view of Harry and 36% think well of Meghan. Other the other hand, even people in this age group are divided over the couple, with 41% of respondents having negative views of each of the Sussexes.
It probably should come as no surprise that Prince Andrew, the king’s scandal-plagued younger brother, remains the least popular royal of all. Only 6% of British adults have a positive view of the Duke of York, whose friendship with the late convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein is the subject of a acclaimed new Netflix movie, “Scoop.” Unfortunately for Andrew, a staggering 86% of the public has a negative view of him.