William and Kate lead boost for royals popularity ahead of coronation

The royal family’s popularity has continued to bounce back in the UK, with the Prince and Princess of Wales receiving the most support.

The royals’ positive ratings spiked in a new survey conducted by YouGov. The poll, conducted between 18 March and 20 March, asked the British public if they had a positive or negative opinion for each member of the royal family. Answers ranged from “very positive” to “very negative” to “don’t know”.

The Prince of Wales had the highest rating, with 72 per cent of respondents saying that they had a “very” or “fairly” positive opinion of the royal. He was then followed by his spouse, with 70 per cent of respondents having positive opinions of the Princess of Wales.

Kate Middleton’s approval rating was also tied with Queen Elizabeth II’s only daughter, Princess Anne, with 70 per cent of participants citing their positive opinions of her. King Charles trailed Anne by only a few percentage points, as 63 per cent of respondents had a positive opinion of him.

Forty-eight per cent of respondents had a positive view of the King’s wife, Camilla, Queen Consort.

However, these royal family members have still seen a rise in popularity, when compared to a survey conducted by YouGuv in January, following Harry’s memoir release. Camilla, Kate, and William’s positive ratings have gone up by two percentage points, while the King’s has gone up by one point.

William and Kate have been observed showing a more relaxed family image of late, including in previously unseen family photos released to celebrate Mother’s Day.

Royal fans were also surprised by Kate’s flirty PDA with William on the red carpet at the Baftas last month.

Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, still appear to be somewhat unpopular amongst the British public. In YouGov’s January and March poll, only 22 per cent of surveyors said they had a “very” or “fairly” positive opinion of Meghan.

For Harry, 25 per cent of respondents said they had a positive opinion of him, which is a one per cent increase from the January survey.

In January, YouGov also looked at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s popularity amongst Americans, following the release of Spare. The survey found that 47 per cent of Americans have a “very or somewhat favourable” opinion of Harry, while 34 per cent have a “very or somewhat unfavourable” opinion of him.

Meghan had similar results, at the time, as 44 per cent of Americans admitted to having a “very or somewhat favourable” opinion of her and 36 per cent had a “very or somewhat unfavourable” opinion of her.

YouGov’s data also found that William and Kate were the most popular British royals amongst Americans.

After his release of Spare, in which he made multiple allegations about the royal family, Harry spoke about having a reconciliation with his family. During his conversation with interviewer Tom Bradby in January, he claimed that while his family has shown “absolutely no willingness to reconcile”, he would still like to get his father and brother “back”.

He was also asked if he would travel to London for the King’s coronation. In response, he said: “There’s a lot that can happen between now and then. But, the door is always open. The ball is in their court. There’s a lot to be discussed and I really hope that they’re willing to sit down and talk about it.”

Earlier this month, it was reported that Harry and Meghan got their invitation to the King’s event, as they had “received email correspondence from His Majesty’s office regarding the coronation”.

However, it has been unclear if they’ll be attending or not, as a spokesperson for the couple told The Times: “An immediate decision on whether the Duke and Duchess will attend will not be disclosed by us at this time.”