Public attitudes towards King Charles, Kate and Meghan Markle remain unchanged

Prince Harry‘s popularity among the British public has plunged to a record low while attitudes towards members of his own family including King Charles and his estranged brother William remain the same amid the fallout from his bombshell memoir, according to a new poll.

Almost two-thirds of Britons have a negative view of the Duke of Sussex, up from 58 per cent in May, with just a quarter seeing him in a positive light, the YouGov survey shows.

Harry’s net favourability among the public is at an all-time low of -38, with his wife Meghan recording -42. 

Meanwhile, 60 per cent have a positive opinion of his father Charles – about whom Harry has been scathing in his incendiary book Spare, including descriptions of his medical ailments and the fact the King carries his teddy bear around with him – while nearly eight in ten Britons regard William – who Harry calls his ‘arch-nemesis’ favourably overall.

Harry’s book has sparked headlines amid claims he was physically attacked by the Prince of Wales, his revelation he killed 25 Taliban members during the Afghanistan war, admissions of taking drugs including cocaine, cannabis and magic mushrooms, and losing his virginity in a field behind a pub to a cougar ‘horse enthusiast’ when he was 17.

The YouGov survey, undertaken by more than 1,600 adults between January 5 and 6, reveals the duke’s net favorability now sits at -38

Almost two-thirds of Britons have a negative view of the Duke of Sussex , up from 58 per cent in May, with just a quarter seeing him in a positive light, the YouGov survey shows

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Regarding his father, Harry said his ‘Pa’ was ‘never made’ for single parenthood but had tried, and told Tom Bradby in an interview broadcast on ITV on Sunday night, that he will ‘always love’ his father.

Narrating his autobiography, the Duke said: ‘Over dinner one night at Highgrove, Pa and I spoke at some length about what I’d been suffering.

‘I gave him the particulars, told him story after story. Towards the end of the meal he looked down at his plate and said softly ‘I suppose it’s my fault. I should have got you the help you needed years ago’. I assured him that it wasn’t his fault, but I appreciated the apology.’

Harry, Meghan, William and Kate at Windsor Castle in September last year

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla attending the Christmas Day service

He also questioned whether Charles had the ‘patience’ and ‘time’ for parenthood.

‘He’d always given an air of not being quite ready for parenthood: the responsibilities, the patience, the time. Even he, though a proud man, would have admitted as much. But single parenthood? Pa was never made for that. To be fair, he tried,’ he wrote.

Speaking of his affection for Charles, Harry told Bradby: ‘Of course, he’s my father. I will always love him.’

Harry describes the King as liking ‘his routines’, adding: ‘He wasn’t the kind of father who played endless rounds of tag, or tossed a ball long after dark.’

But when a picture of Harry romping naked in Las Vegas, just weeks before his deployment to Afghanistan, is splashed across the newspapers, he says Charles, to his surprise and relief, was gentle.

‘He felt for me, he said, he’d been there, though he’d never been naked on a front page,’ said Harry.

The King’s youngest son’s net favourability score among 2019 Labour voters is minus seven, while among 18-24-year-olds, the proportion of positive and negative views of him was equal (41 per cent).

Meghan still has a positive net favourability score of 10 among 18-24-year-olds, but this has dropped from 55 in 2017.

Harry and his father the King, and their wives Meghan and the Queen Consort as they follow the late Queen Elizabeth II’s hearse following the state funeral

She holds a score of -11 among 2019 Labour voters and -30 among Remain voters, with -81 and -72 among 2016 Conservative voters and Leave voters, respectively.

In television interviews, the Duke has said he is ‘not texting’ his brother, described the Queen Consort as ‘the villain’ and criticised ‘family members’ for a ‘really horrible reaction’ when the Queen died.

He spoke to Bradby, denying branding the royals racist and accusing his family of ‘getting into bed with the devil’.

YouGov surveyed 1,693 adults in the UK at the end of last week.