Meghan Markle is less popular in the US than Queen Camilla

Meghan Markle is now less popular than Queen Camilla in America, even after Prince Harry lashed out at his stepmother, according to exclusive polls news week.

The Duchess of Sussex had a net approval rating of -13 and Camilla’s -8, according to a Redfield & Wilton poll of 2,000 eligible US voters on Monday. The data was collected six days after the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir. spare part.

The Duke of Sussex wasn’t far behind at -7 following his book promotion tour and the couple’s recent Netflix documentaries. Harry & Meganseemed to collapse their popularity in the US.

As recently as December 5, Harry was +38 and Meghan +23, easily surpassing Camilla, who was -2 according to Redfield & Wilton polls.

Harry and Meghan also underperformed King Charles III, Prince William and Kate Middleton, but the comparison to Camilla is particularly striking for two reasons.

First, Americans have a deep-seated historical connection between Camilla and the collapse of Charles and Princess Diana’s marriage, which has returned to the spotlight thanks to the Netflix series The crown.

Second, Camilla was one of the royals who was heavily criticized both in Harry’s book and in the interviews surrounding it, with Harry accusing her of leaking stories about him to further her public rehabilitation when she was told by “the other woman”. in Charles’ first marriage to his wife and Queen consort.

Harry wrote spare part: “I had complex feelings over gaining a stepmother who I believed had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.

“But I saw Pa’s smile and it was hard to disagree and even harder to deny why: Camilla. I wanted so many things, but I was surprised to discover at their wedding that one of the things I wanted most, still , was being happy for my father.

“Funnily enough, I actually wanted Camilla to be happy. Maybe she would be less dangerous if she were happy?” Harry wrote.

During an interview with Anderson Cooper 60 minutesHarry was asked what made Camilla dangerous.

He replied: “Because of the need to rehabilitate her image. This made her dangerous because of the connections she forged within the British press. And there was an open willingness on both sides to exchange information.

“And with a family built on hierarchy, and with her on her way to the queen consort, people or corpses would be left on the road because of that,” he said.

A key takeaway from the Redfield & Wilton polls is that there is little evidence that Harry and Meghan’s strategy worked with the American public spare part According to Guinness World Records, it was a commercial success, selling faster than any other non-fiction book.

Not only have the couple’s ratings plummeted compared to Camilla’s, but their approval rating is in negative territory among 18-24 year olds, a demographic they’ve targeted much of their post-royal messaging.

Also, despite her outspoken feminism, Meghan was seen more negatively than positively by women.

Forty-four percent of Americans said they felt Harry shouldn’t have disclosed private family conversations savingse, compared to 26 percent who supported the prince’s decision.

Overall, Harry was liked by 31 percent and disliked by 38 percent, while Meghan was liked by 26 percent and disliked by 39 percent.

Camilla was liked by 18 percent and disliked by 26 percent, while King Charles III was liked by 27 percent and disliked by 19 percent, earning him a net rating of +8 and making him more popular than all three.

Meanwhile, Prince William had a net approval rating of +21, while Kate was at +26, making her the most popular queen in our poll.

This comes despite the fact that the first excerpt from the book published in leaked The guardHe described a physical attack by William on his brother.

Harry wrote in the book, “‘Willy, I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.’ He turned off the water and called me a different name and then walked towards me It all happened so quickly, so very quickly.

“He grabbed my collar, ripped off my chain and threw me to the ground. I landed on the dog bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there dazed for a moment, then got to my feet and told him to get out.”

Harry wrote that William told him, “Come on hit me! You’ll feel better if you hit me!” and “C’mon, we’ve always fought. You’ll feel better if you hit me.”

The prince said he replied: “No, only you will feel better if I hit you. Please… just go.”

The fact that Harry’s revelations appear to have hurt rather than improved his perception of the US public puts the pair in a difficult position, not least because they are now so unpopular in the UK.

Recent polls by YouGov show they are now disliked by two-thirds of those in the country they left, making their reputation in the US even more important to their branding.

Jack Royston is news week‘s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and keep reading his stories Newsweeks The Royals’ Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.