A new survey suggests Meghan Markle’s contribution to the UK hasn’t been appreciated by many Britons.
While she is the female royal ranking the lowest in the recent poll, which asked its respondents among other questions to name who they thought “has made a positive contribution to the UK”, there is one member of the Royal Family who fared worse than her.
Prince Andrew, who stepped back from public duties in November 2019 following his notorious interview with Newsnight entirely focused on his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is seen as to have positively contributed to his country only by a handful of the people who took part in the survey.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the chart has been topped by Queen Elizabeth II who, one year after her death, is still acknowledged by more than 60 per cent of the people surveyed for her decades-long service.
The late monarch is followed in the ranking by her grandson Prince William, believed to be positively contributing to Britain by 54 per cent of those polled.
The late Diana, Princess of Wales, came in third, followed by Kate, Princess of Wales, King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Edward, Queen Camilla, Zara Tindall, Prince Harry and Peter Phillips. The Duke of Sussex’s contribution to his country is more acknowledged by the people polled than that of his Californian wife, the result of the survey suggested.
Both Harry and Meghan fared better than Prince Andrew though, when it came to other questions asked to the 2,009 British adults interviewed by Deltapoll for this survey carried out between September 1 and 4 for the MailOnline.
When asked what they thought of the Duke of York, only three per cent replied “No bad things about him”, while eight per cent gave this answer when asked about the Duke of Sussex.
While 32 per cent who responded said they think more bad than good things about Harry, 14 per cent said they think “no good things about him” – which was also the same percentage of people saying they think more good than bad things about the King’s second son.
On the other hand, a remarkable 43 per cent said they think no good things about Andrew, while 18 per cent said they thought more bad than good things about him.
Only 12 per cent said to see more positively than negatively King Charles’s brother.
The answer “Bad things are equal to the good” was given by 18 per cent of the surveyed when it comes to Harry, while by 10 when asked about Andrew.
While Harry and Meghan appear to be more liked by Britons than Prince Andrew, the poll respondents believe all three non-working royals should not receive public funding nor be given an active role within the Firm.
The public feels strongly when it comes to King Charles possibly handing a public role to Andrew, with 69 perc ent saying to be against this possibility while only 16 per cent said he should carry out royal duties again.
Neither Harry nor Meghan should have a public role again according to 40 per cent of those polled, while 25 per cent believe both should return to the royal fold.
Some, 20 per cent, think only the Duke of Sussex should be allowed, if he wanted, to carry out once again public duties.
The Duke of Sussex, who served in two tours in Afghanistan and was a senior member of the Firm for several years, stepped down from royal duties alongside his wife Meghan in the spring of 2020.
They have since received no taxpayer funding and in January they were told by Buckingham Palace to vacate their UK residence, Frogmore Cottage.
When it comes to funding the royals, the poll suggests the public clearly wants only five members of the Firm to receive taxpayers money – the King and Queen, the Prince and Princess of Wales and Princess Anne, often described as the hardest-working member of the Royal Family.
