How Meghan Markle's popularity has actually changed since she married Prince Harry
Meghan's popularity is at an all-time low...Both Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s popularity has suffered over the past few years, with major events within the royal family sending their ratings plummeting.
The Duchess of Sussex’s favourability rating was high when she married the Duke in 2018 – so, what happened?
We take a look at the past six years, and what key moments affected Meghan Markle‘s popularity with the public. From the Queen’s death to her and Harry’s Oprah interview, how did royal fans react?
Meghan Markle’s popularity was an all-time high after she married Prince Harry
According to data from Statista and YouGov, the first recording of Meghan Markle’s ‘popularity’ with the public was from October 2019.
This would have been 18 months after she wed the Duke of Sussex, and the birth of their child Prince Archie.
In October 2019, 55% of those surveyed had a positive opinion on Meghan Markle, compared to just 35% who had negative. This was the royal’s best recording, as the trend shows after that, her popularity began taking a dive thereafter. The number of negative opinions over the Duchess also rose from this period, with both ratings moving in the opposite direction.
But there were a few key moments in royal history that seemed to push these ratings even further.
Megxit saw a major shift in ratings
The same data reveals that by January 2020, Meghan Markle’s popularity rating was heading in the wrong direction among the British public.
It was the first report where the royal had more negative opinions over positive. This was also the time where the Sussexes announced they were stepping away from The Firm as senior working royals. It meant only 38% felt positive over Meghan, compared to 49% who felt negatively.
Ratings dropped again in May 2022, weeks ahead of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. Here, her positive rating was down further to 23% compared to 65% negative rating. Her popularity slowly rose over the next several months before plummeting again in June 2023 – which was King Charles’ coronation. Meghan had missed the important date, and said she was at home to look after her children while Harry made the trip over. At this point in time, it was 68% negative, and 21% positive – the second-lowest it had been with the British public since she was introduced to The Firm.
The lowest popularity rating for Meghan Markle came in May 2025, when it reached just 20% positivity rating, and 65% negative. While the royal has had higher negative ratings throughout the past six years (68%), this was the lowest positive recording since the data was collected.
Read more: Valid reason Meghan Markle is ‘not a princess’ despite calling herself one
Surprising moments that worked in her favour
However, moments that commentators may have predicted to have affected Meghan Markle’s popularity did the opposite. She was, in fact, liked more.
Following her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, her positivity rating shot up from 36% to 39%. But in the next month, April 2021, it dived 10%, and this was around the time of Prince Philip’s death and funeral – which she did not attend. The same trend happened for her negativity rating, with it dropping from 59% to 53%, before climbing back up to 61% in April.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were in the UK in September 2022 for the WellChild Awards. However, this was when the nation lost their monarch, with the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The couple extended their stay to pay their respects and to attend her funeral.
During this time, Meghan Markle’s popularity rose again, to 30% positive – up from 27%. Her negative rating also dipped in the same period.
Meghan Markle’s popularity ratings are at the lowest-ever recorded
If we take a look at YouGov poll data, we can see a similar trend to the data above.
At the moment, Meghan Markle’s popularity rating on the site sits at 17% – the lowest it’s been since the site began surveying the British public from October 2020.
The site categorises how ‘known’ the royal is, and if a person has a negative, positive, or neutral opinion on her.
While 25% of people had a ‘neutral’ opinion on the Duchess, after her bombshell Oprah tell-all, that dropped to 15%, with both her positive and negative ratings increasing – seeming to show that it did divide fans either way.
Her popularity rose following the Platinum Jubilee and the Queen’s death, but dipped again for the King’s coronation. It appeared to be looking good for the royal towards the end of 2024, but that shift dramatically changed. From a high of a 31% positive rating, Meghan dropped down to 17% which is where we are now. Her negative rating stands at 57% – the highest it’s ever been on YouGov’s data.
Prince Harry hasn’t walked away unscathed either, suffering a plummeting popularity rating like his wife Meghan Markle. Both the Sussexes sit within the top 3 least-liked members of the royal family, with only Prince Andrew below them.
Whereas, Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton are the most-liked royals within The Firm.
Read more: When Harry met Meghan – How a royal prince kept his romance ‘secret’
Meghan and Harry ‘separate’ professionally
The ratings come weeks after reports the couple are ‘separating’ professionally.
Meghan has been diving head first into her own projects, including her lifestyle brand As Ever and Netflix cooking show, With Love, Meghan.
A PR expert exclusively told Royal Insider that the couple splitting in terms of business was a smart move.
Nicke Ede, told us: “The news that Meghan and Harry are separating their business interests is a really good idea. This professional split really allows them to thrive.
“Like the Beckhams they can manage their own professional roles separately which will enable them to expand on what they like to do most and profit from those opportunities.”
Prince Harry’s rating on YouGov remains at 30% positive, but Meghan’s has dipped even further since she’s started her own projects.
Only time will tell if Meghan can turn things around.
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