48% of British people think the Sussexes did the interview for ‘self promotion’

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I never really understand the royal reporters’ reliance on daily YouGov polls. It’s quite common to see many royal reporters citing those numbers to somehow justify their reporting, or claim that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s “popularity” is suffering in the UK. The polling methodology usually seems suspect, and I get the feeling that many of the numbers being thrown around are coming from push polls with small samples. But even then, it’s curious to see members of the Windsor clan treated like politicians in a heated campaign trail. There’s no “voting someone out” or “losing an election.” In the case of Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan, they’re literally in another country, living their lives away from the barrage of hatefulness. They’re not living on the British taxpayer’s dime whatsoever. So why the continuous polling? Newsweek has some data and some analysis. It’s very curious.

The astonishing two-hour prime time interview has caused Meghan and Harry’s approval ratings to plunge, not rise. YouGov data suggests Prince Harry’s net approval fell 15 points to -3 from March 2 to March 12, with 45 percent of Brits feeling positively about him and 48 percent feeling negative. The same research suggests Meghan’s net approval fell 14 points to -27, with 31 percent feeling positive about her and 58 percent feeling negative.

Newsweek’s own exclusive polling points to some possible explanations, identifying that just 21 percent of Brits believe all the couple’s claims. A full 26 percent said they believed nothing the duke and duchess said while 45 percent believed everything. As if that was not bad enough, 48 percent believed Meghan and Harry were motivated by self-promotion with only 36 percent thinking they did the interview to defend themselves. And 64 percent felt cutting Prince Harry off financially was the right thing to do once he had stepped back from royal duties, compared to 36 percent who did not.

Royal biographer Penny Junor told Newsweek: “In terms of whether it’s been successful for Harry and Meghan, I don’t think we know what it was meant to achieve. I’m absolutely mystified about why they did it. Unless it was purely self-promotion. By the sounds of things in America there is much greater approval of them. I still think this is quite worrying for the Monarchy. The queen is head of the commonwealth and Prince Charles is lined up to be head of the Commonwealth after her. All of that is worrying.”

There was, however, some good news for campaign group Republic who seek to abolish the monarchy. They have been buoyed by Survation data that suggests 34 percent of people would like an end to the monarchy while 66 percent want to see it continue. While the findings do not suggest Queen Elizabeth II is going anywhere anytime soon, it is a better than usual response for the group. The campaign Tweeted: “34% is a significant jump in support for a republic.”

There are potential implications further afield than the U.K. among the 15 other countries around the world who have the queen as head of state. Barbados has already committed to becoming a republic and there has been a similar debate in Jamaica as well.

Historian Robert Lacey, author of Battle of Brothers, told Newsweek: “If there is a threat to the monarchy it is obviously to the Commonwealth monarchies. Barbados has already signed off. I think there will be a problem in the future with Australia, New Zealand, certainly in the Caribbean countries. You’ve seen it in recent reports, Caribbean newspapers saying why should we have a white head of state anymore. They will stay in the Commonwealth but I think this could be the end of the strange anomaly of the Commonwealth monarchies where these countries choose to have the British head of state as their head of state. I think that survives as long as the queen is alive but after that people might feel differently about King Charles III and Queen Camilla.”

[From Newsweek]

Imagine spending the money to do a push poll about the motivations for two people publicly detailing their ordeals with a toxic British media and toxic royal family. It’s not shocking to me whatsoever that 48% of people on Salty White Folk Isle believe that Meghan and Harry are doing this all for “self-promotion.” This is something I keep coming back to: the nasty, negative, toxic, racist, misogynistic press around the Sussexes happens because British people want it and are willing to put up with it. If there was an outcry from the public, the British media would change. There is such a significant bloc of the British public who WANT to hate Meghan and Harry, who WANT to read every disparaging, nonsensical, nasty story about them. It’s the same thing with Piers Morgan – he was allowed to publicly abuse Meghan for YEARS because the public was completely fine with it.

As for what Lacey and Junor say about the Commonwealth… yeah. A lot of things will be very different when the Queen dies. And the Republic’s numbers on younger people’s feelings regarding the monarchy should scare the sh-t out of the Windsors.