Princess Anne named Britain's most popular royal, ahead of Catherine and William
Princess Anne has topped the latest YouGov ranking of the British Royal Family with a 67% popularity rating, ahead of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and William, Prince of Wales.
The list, reported on 15 October 2026, puts Catherine second on 64% and William third on 62%, according to Royal Central. Reports a day earlier noted that Anne had taken the top spot from William and Catherine.
YouGov uses two different measures. Fame is the share of British adults who have heard of a person. Popularity is the share who have a positive opinion of them. The royal figures are built from responses collected over time and updated quarterly, rather than from a single day's poll.
Catherine and William remain the most widely recognised. William has a fame rating of 98%. Anne, by contrast, is familiar to 93% of British adults, but a higher share of those who know her rate her positively.
The King ranks fourth on 53%, with 96% recognition. The Duke of Edinburgh is fifth on 47%. The Duchess of Edinburgh follows on 45%, Zara Tindall is seventh on 39%, and Queen Camilla is on 33%.
Lower down the list, Prince Harry ranks tenth overall. He has 98% fame and 29% popularity. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, ranks thirteenth, with 95% fame and 22% popularity.
The gap is generational. Among millennials, William ranks first on 60%, followed by Anne on 55% and Catherine on 51%. In the same age group, Harry is on 34% and Meghan is on 29%.
Among baby boomers, Anne leads on 89%, followed by Catherine on 84% and William on 68%. That is a far higher positive score for the older working royals than among younger adults.
Separate YouGov favourability trackers earlier in 2026 had put Anne's good-opinion score at 70% in January, April and July, suggesting a steady position at the top of the table through the year.
What makes this stand out is the trade-off between being known and being liked. William and Harry are almost universally recognised. Anne is slightly less well known overall, but converts that recognition into the highest positive rating.
