LONDON (Reuters) – The popularity of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan has plummeted in Britain and according to a poll on Friday, Britain is still not lower after their explosive interview with American chat rhymer Oprah Winfrey.
During the interview aired last Sunday, Meghan said her pleas for help, while feeling like suicide, were being ignored, and that one unnamed member of the family had asked how dark their son Archie’s skin might be.
Meanwhile, Harry, the granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, also regrets his family’s reaction to the couple’s decision to resign from official duties.
The tell-it-all interview plunged the 1,000-year-old monarchy into its biggest crisis this century, and according to a YouGov poll, the status of the two royals also suffered a major blow in the aftermath.
It was found that 48% percent of the 1664 respondents had a negative attitude towards Harry compared to 45% with a positive view, the first time his net favor rating was negative and a decrease of 15 points over a week earlier .
Meanwhile, only three out of ten people had a positive view of Meghan, while 58% had a negative opinion.
As with other polls conducted since the interview, there was a gap between generations, with a majority of those between 18 and 24 liking Harry and Meghan, and those over 65 having predominantly negative feelings towards them.
The only other family member who dropped their popularity was Harry’s father, the heir to the throne, Prince Charles. According to the survey, 42% now have a negative view of him, compared to 49% with a positive opinion.
This is compared to the 94-year-old queen, who liked 80%, and Harry’s older brother and his wife Kate, who were popular among three-quarters of respondents.
A separate poll, conducted in part before the interview was broadcast in Britain, found that support for the monarchy as a whole was largely unchanged, with 63% supporting the institution and 25% an elected head of state.
But there were some worrying figures for the royal family. Among the youngest age group, support for an elected head of state was 42% to 37% higher than that for the monarchy, although YouGov said it was within the margin of error.
Report by Michael Holden, edited by Elizabeth Piper