The Most Popular Royal In The World May Surprise You
An extensive line of family members in the British royal family has created many familiar and lovable royal faces. From Princess Diana, to her children, Will and Harry, to Kate Middleton and of course, Queen Elizabeth, herself. Each member of the family holds a distinct role and niche that serves England, and the family as a whole has been loved throughout the decades. If you were to guess who you thought the most popular royal in the world was, who would you say? We believe the answer might come as a huge surprise. But here's a spoiler: it's not someone featured on The Crown.
That's right: it's Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex has come out on top after a huge study into who the most popular member of the British royals is. In terms of the study, the data was sourced from across the globe, via YouGov rankings, Google search volumes, Instagram and the royal calendar, and carried out by OnBuy.com (via Women and Home). Markle received the highest amount of the votes, coming out at 14.5%.
Runner up is Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, who only narrowly missed the lead by 0.1%. Her Majesty the Queen, Elizabeth II took third place with a score of 14.3%.
And as for least popular, in case you're curious? We have the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, who came in last place with just 1.2% popularity.
Meghan Markle has seen a large amount of controversy during her time as a royal
One of the many reasons that Markle's popularity might come as a shock is that she has been a part of the family for the shortest amount of time. She and Prince Harry started dating in 2016 and were married only two years ago, in 2018 (via Vogue). One might think that wouldn't be enough time to assert her presence and introduce herself to the world, but in fact, it was — and fans adore her.
In addition, Markle has been seen as a relatively controversial icon as a result of her nationality and ethnicity. She's the very first American to be a part of the royal family due to her marriage to Prince Harry. In addition, she is half-Black, and her brief time as a royal has seen the Duchess of Sussex a horrible amount of racism (via NBC News). Markle has also faced criticism as a result of her acting career (via Hollywood Reporter), which many saw as a severe deviation away from royal family values.
While Markle has since quit her acting career, she and Harry have also decided to leave the life of royal duties behind them. Sources say that the couple have relocated to California after announcing their goal of "working to become financially independent" (via ABC News). We love Meghan Markle's fierce sense of self!