It’s been a week since their Netflix documentary started streaming, and new polling has found that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s popularity has plummeted even further in the United Kingdom.
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan were released Dec. 8, and a YouGov poll has found that Prince Harry’s popularity has dropped 13 points since November, while his wife Meghan had a seven-point drop in the same time.
YouGov is a British internet-based market research and data analytics firm that conducts polls in the U.K. and beyond.
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According to the Telegraph, YouGov’s poll was conducted the day before Netflix released the first three episodes of the docuseries, but after the public had a chance to view the streaming giant’s first two dramatic trailers for the much-anticipated doc.
They poll surveyed 1,677 adults between Wednesday and Thursday of last week.
In November, the Duchess of Sussex had a net popularity rating of -32 in Britain in November, but that dropped to -39 in YouGov’s most recent poll. Harry’s net favourability rating dropped from -13 to -26 in that same time.
The Sussexes’ documentary has, so far, not proven to be the hit-job on the British Royal Family that some were expecting, but that hasn’t stopped the U.K. tabloids from lashing out at the couple after being taken to task in the documentary for what the couple claims was unfair and racist treatment of Meghan during her royal tenure.
In the documentary, Harry and Meghan make minor jabs at Prince William and Kate Middleton over their formality in casual settings and the Royal Family’s alleged willingness to tolerate bad behaviour from the media, but there are no startling revelations or accusations levelled at any members of the royal institution.
However, a trailer released this week suggests that viewers might see a change of tone in the coming three episodes, out this Thursday, after Harry claims that “they” were happy to lie to protect Prince William, but not himself and Meghan.
The trailer doesn’t explicitly identify who Harry means by “they,” but his voiceover is paired with an image of Buckingham Palace.
Harry and Meghan are perhaps facing a bit of a “love-to-hate-them” sentiment, however, as Netflix’s ratings for the documentary are soaring.
On Wednesday, the streaming service announced that Harry & Meghan is their highest viewed documentary ever.
In its first week, volume one cracked the Top 10 list for shows in the U.S., while it ranked No. 1 in the U.K.
More than 28 million households worldwide tuned into the first three episodes, with 2.4 million in the U.K. alone watching the first episode when it first began streaming.
According to Fortune, Harry & Meghan was the top Netflix television series on Friday, the day after it premiered, before being replaced by Tim Burton’s Wednesday.
It’s not just the Sussexes who are feeling the pinch of a popularity dip across the pond. YouGov’s results found that almost every member of the Royal Family experienced a drop in favourability since November’s survey.
Disgraced Prince Andrew remains, by a large margin, the most unpopular of the senior royals. Only seven per cent of Britons view him favourably, while 86 per cent of those polled continue to hold a negative opinion of him.
Even the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are the most popular royals in the U.K., each experienced a seven-point dip in popularity.
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