King Charles's favourability has fallen to its lowest level since he took the throne, with 58% of Britons viewing him positively in a YouGov survey that also recorded weak ratings for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The King's positive rating dropped four percentage points from July, while negative views rose three points to 34%, matching the highest unfavourable reading of his reign. Support for retaining the monarchy, however, remained unchanged at 64%.
Royal commentator Tom Sykes attributed Charles's decline to the Sussexes' return to Britain. Writing in The Royalist, he argued that "the King is paying the price for bringing Harry back."
The poll does not establish that connection. It measured attitudes toward members of the royal family without asking whether Harry's return had affected respondents' opinions of Charles.
Published by YouGov on October 29, the survey questioned 2,116 adults aged 18 and over in Great Britain on October 22 and 23. Charles's results produced a net favourability score of plus 24, calculated by subtracting negative responses from positive ones.
That net figure is distinct from his overall favourable rating: a majority of respondents still expressed a positive opinion of the King, who succeeded Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022.
Sykes nevertheless described the result as a "devastating nadir" and argued that falling below 60% represented "a big psychological blow for a British monarch."
His criticism also focused on the palace's handling of Harry and Meghan's status following their return. On September 7, a letter issued by the Lord Chamberlain on the King's instructions reiterated that the couple remained non-working members of the royal family.
The correspondence said their charitable activities would continue in a private capacity and that returning to Britain had not changed their royal status. Sykes argued that the palace had pushed back too little following the letter, though the survey offers no evidence that its handling influenced the King's ratings.
Harry's own standing deteriorated over the same period. His favourable rating fell four points from July to 29%, while 60% of respondents viewed him negatively, producing a net score of minus 31.
Meghan was viewed positively by 20% and negatively by 68%. Her net rating of minus 48 was the lowest recorded for her in YouGov's tracker.
Those results leave both Sussexes substantially less popular than Charles. They do not show whether opinions of the couple influenced views of the King or whether respondents assessed each family member separately.
Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales, led the rankings. William received a favourable rating of 74%, while Catherine stood at 72%, placing both well ahead of the monarch.
Queen Camilla's results were more evenly divided, with 42% expressing a positive opinion and 45% a negative one. Her net favourability was minus three.
On the separate question of Britain's constitutional arrangements, 64% favoured retaining the monarchy and 25% preferred an elected head of state. The proportion supporting the institution was unchanged from the previous tracker, despite the decline in Charles's personal rating.
