Americans Have a Surprising Favorite Member of the Royal Family, Per Latest Poll—and It Isn't Princess Kate

The rankings are wildly different than the same U.K. survey.

Queen Elizabeth and members of the Royal Family standing on the Buckingham Palace balcony at Trooping the Colour 2019
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The American fascination with British royalty hasn't changed very much since the days of Diana and Charles, as a recent YouGov survey has revealed. Although Prince William and Princess Kate seem like they should be a shoo-in for the top spot in a "most popular royals" poll, Americans are still carrying a royal torch for the People's Princess nearly three decades after her tragic death.

Princess Diana still reigns supreme—at least according to a survey asking Americans for their views of British Royal Family members both living and dead. The late princess dominated the poll with an impressive 76 percent of respondents finding her "very or somewhat favorable."

Unsurprisingly, Queen Elizabeth II secured a solid second place with a 67 percent favorability rating, while Prince William (58 percent) rounded out the top three. But although you might expect the Princess of Wales to rank similarly to her husband, Prince Harry (53 percent) narrowly beat his sister-in-law Kate—despite his controversial 2020 departure from royal duties.

The Princess of Wales's fifth-place, 52 percent favorability position comes as a surprise considering her typically stellar polling numbers in the U.K.; she was voted the number-one most popular member of the Royal Family in a February 2025 YouGov poll in the United Kingdom.

Princess diana wearing a white sleeveless dress turning to the camera and waving in 1996

Princess Diana ranked as the most popular member of the Royal Family in America.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Meanwhile, American-born Meghan Markle landed in seventh place with a 46 percent favorability rating, trailing behind Princess Anne's 47 percent. Interestingly, the hard-working Princess Royal received a hugely different ranking in the U.K., coming in third place with a whopping 70 percent of Brits viewing her in a favorable manor.

Just 42 percent of Americans viewed King Charles favorably in the poll—significantly behind his late first wife and mother. Queen Camilla, however, was ranked the second-to-last most popular royal with a favorability rating of just 30 percent—which given Diana's popularity is hardly surprising.

As for the royal with the lowest rating? Unsurprisingly, that honor belongs to Prince Andrew, whose friendship with Jeffrey Epstein continues to cast a shadow over his public perception.

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Kristin Contino
Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.