Prince William's Most Popular Tweet Might Surprise You

Ever since Meghan Markle joined the royal family, it's become clear that to many, Markle was Princess Diana's heir apparent, possessing much in common with the late People's Princess (via Vogue). Among those similarities is that both were mistreated by the royal family and publicly expressed their discontent — with Markle and her husband Prince Harry even going so far as to divorce themselves from the royal institution and doing a tell-all with Oprah (via New York Times).

The royal family, Markle explained in the Oprah interview, was "willing to lie to protect other members of the family, but they weren't willing to tell the truth to protect me and my husband."

For his part, Prince Harry expressed disappointment with his father, Prince Charles. "I feel really let down, because he's been through something similar," Harry said, in reference to how Prince Charles witnessed the way the British tabloids had assaulted Princess Diana, and yet was willing to allow it to happen to Markle.

Perhaps not surprisingly, after Markle and Harry's interview with Oprah, the royal family's popularity in the United States declined -– Prince William and Kate Middleton included -– something the pair are now reportedly looking to get a handle on in 2022 (via The Daily Beast). "Team Cambridge is very focused on America and making sure they have a high profile over there," a source shared.

While Prince William and Kate Middleton might not have been everyone's favorite Brits this year, there is at least one instance where they were on the right side of things.

Back in July, British football players Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford, and Jadon Sancho faced online bullying and racist attacks when they missed penalty kicks in Team England's match against Italy in the Euro 2020 final, reports People. Prince William, who serves as president of the Football Association, stood behind the players and condemned this abuse. "I am sickened by the racist abuse aimed at England players after last night's match. It is totally unacceptable that players have to endure this abhorrent behaviour," Prince William tweeted. "It must stop now and all those involved should be held accountable."

Additionally, the prince signed the tweet with a "W" to signify that he was sending the message personally, and that it was not an official palace message. The tweet garnered 108,000 likes, topping their second-most popular tweet that year –- a picture of William, Kate, and their son, Prince George, enjoying a soccer match, captioned with "Incredible performance @England! #GERENG."

If Prince William and Kate will be able to revive their popularity in 2022, only time will tell.