Harry and Meghan’s popularity in the UK and the US has plummeted in the wake of their public criticisms of the royal family – and now a new poll has placed Meghan even further down the list
There was a time when Meghan Markle was seen as a very welcome addition to the royal family, with the late Queen believing that the former actress would “be a breath of fresh air and a great asset to the Monarchy”.
But less than two years after the Sussexes’ wedding, Meghan and Harry quit royal life – and have since gone on to make a series of blistering attacks on his loved ones. Their comments have proved controversial and divisive, and it has led to a rapid decline in their popularity in both the UK and the US, where they now live.
Now a new YouGov poll has revealed that Meghan has dropped even further down the rankings, and has fallen behind a barely-seen royal. The latest quarterly data compiled by the polling agency shows the Duchess of Sussex is 17th on the list of the most popular Royal Family members based on the size of her fanbase.
Meghan was liked by 23 percent of Brits and known to 99 percent, putting her one place behind Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy, who is liked by 25 percent but only known to 56 percent.
So who is Princess Alexandra? She was born on 25 December 1936, as the only daughter of the late Prince George, Duke of Kent (King George VI’s younger brother) and the late Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark. She has two brothers – Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, 87, and Prince Michael of Kent, 80.
The Honorable Lady Ogilvy is still a working member of the royal family and was very close to her late cousin, Queen Elizabeth II, supporting Her Majesty at a great many engagements over the years.
At the age of 11, she took on a starring role as one of Princess Elizabeth’s bridesmaids at her wedding to Prince Philip in 1947, and Princess Anne was one of her bridesmaids when she married businessman Sir Angus James Bruce Ogilvy at Westminster Abbey in London 24 April 1963.
Alexandra and Angus welcomed two children together – James and Marina Ogilvy, born in 1964 and 1966 respectively. Sadly Angus died at the age of 76 on 26 December 2004, after spending three months in hospital with cancer-related illnesses. His death came a day after his wife’s 68th birthday. His funeral took place at St George’s Chapel in Windsor in January 2005, and he is buried in the Royal Burial Ground at Frogmore.
Princess Alexandra has lived at Thatched House Lodge in Richmond, London since 1963 and she also has use of a grace-and-favour apartment at St James’s Palace in London, via Hello. She continues to appear at major royal events and was featured in the King and Queen Camilla’s official coronation photographs, placed in between the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.