Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, is apparently the most popular royal in the world, according to a study, which analyzed most of the polls, searches, and rankings in the recent year.
The data, culled by the consumer site OnBuy.Com, looked into the surveys featuring the royals on YouGov, Google searches, and social media mentions. Meghan apparently earned the highest weighted average with a 14.5 percent popularity score despite not officially participating in royal engagements.
Following Meghan's lead is Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, who lost out to her sister-in-law by a measly 0.1 percent at 14.4. Prince William's wife, however, is more popular than Meghan in the searches on Instagram.
Queen Elizabeth, on the other hand, grabbed third place at 14.3 percent. Prince Harry and William are in fourth and fifth place at 14.2 and 13.8 percent, respectively. Prince Andrew ranked the last with just eight percent in the popularity poll.
According to OnBuy, it's been an "eventful year" for everyone, including the royals, who continue to be a "global spectacle" during this pandemic, whether they get good or bad publicity. They were talked about at the start of 2020 with Prince Andrew's scandal and they were, once again, the topic of debates and discussions with the release of the latest season of The Crown on Netflix in November.
A poll from Focaldata also showed that The Crown is actually helping polish the royal family's reputation despite complaints about their depiction in the drama series. The report cited that 35 percent of viewers think their impression of the British royals improved after watching the show.
Meanwhile, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams believes that Meghan and Prince Harry's popularity in the United Kingdom has dwindled since they left for the United States last March. While the Duke of Sussex used to be well-liked in his homeland, it's apparently not the case these days since Harry and Meghan are no longer visible with the British people. Thus, the pair are planning out their work and their life with a focus on America.
In the beginning, Meghan and Harry said they wanted to divide their time between the U.S. and the U.K. However, the pandemic crisis has prevented them from returning to London, including coming home for the Christmas holidays.
Fitzwilliam said it's a tragedy for the monarchy since the royal family could use Meghan and Harry's wide appeal, especially for the Commonwealth. Though their popularity generally dwindled, younger Britons from the ages of 18 to 24, still consider the Sussex pair as most influential.
