Queen Elizabeth Just Beat Out Oprah For This Award

Due in large part to the explosive tell-all interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry in March, the lives of Oprah Winfrey and Queen Elizabeth II have been more intertwined than ever. In the two-hour interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and his wife made several shocking claims about the royal family. Perhaps the most shocking of these claims was that the British monarchy was concerned about the color of their first child's skin prior to his birth, per the Daily Mail. When Prince Harry joined the interview, he spoke about the fractured relationship that he now shares with his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince William, according to CNN. This interview has sparked a debate about the ethics of the royal family and Prince Harry and Markle that still makes headlines months later.

Two days after the interview aired, Queen Elizabeth II and Buckingham Palace released a formal statement to address the issues raised by Markle and Prince Harry. "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan," the statement reads, according to USA Today. "The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning. While some recollections may vary, they are taken very seriously and will be addressed by the family privately. Harry, Meghan and Archie will always be much loved family members."

On Monday, pollster YouGov released the results of a global survey of the most admired women and men of 2021. The poll, which consists of votes from 42,000 respondents across 32 countries, found Queen Elizabeth II to be the third-most admired woman of 2021. Queen Elizabeth beat Oprah Winfrey by one spot, as the media mogul placed fourth in the poll of the most admired women on the planet. Queen Elizabeth and Winfrey also held the same positions in the poll in 2020. A year earlier, though, in 2019, Winfrey earned the second spot in the YouGov poll, while Queen Elizabeth was in the fourth spot.

Interestingly enough, Barack and Michelle Obama earned the top spot in the polls for the most admired men and women in the world in 2021 and 2020. Actress Angelina Jolie came in second place in the poll in 2021 and 2020, and in 2019, came in third place. The remaining women who earned top ten spots in the 2021 poll include Scarlett Johansson, Emma Watson, Taylor Swift, Angela Merkel, Malala Yousafzai, and Priyanka Chopra. Men who earned the other nine spots in the 2021 poll include Bill Gates, Chinese premier Xi Jinping, Portuguese soccer player Cristiana Ronaldo, Jackie Chan, Elon Musk, Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin, and Chinese businessman Jack Ma.