UK Royal Approval Ratings vs Queen Elizabeth: No Living Royal Comes Close
Queen Elizabeth holds 81% positive even after death. The highest living royal, William, sits at 76%. The gap tells the story.
Primary source: YouGov Royal Family Favourability Trackers, April 2026 →
Queen Elizabeth remains the benchmark for royal approval. The distance between her numbers and every living royal tells us where the monarchy stands.
Short answer: Queen Elizabeth II still commands 81% positive opinion among Britons — five points above the most popular living royal, Prince William, at 76%. No current member of the family matches her, and the age breakdown shows why the gap may widen.
1. The numbers side by side
YouGov polled Britons in April 2026, ahead of what would have been Elizabeth’s 100th birthday. They asked about current and former royals using the same scale.
| Royal | Positive | Very positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen Elizabeth II | 81% | 51% | 14% |
| Princess Diana | 77% | 41% | 15% |
| Prince William | 76% | 39% | 17% |
| Catherine, Princess of Wales | 75% | 42% | 15% |
| Princess Anne | 70% | 38% | 14% |
| King Charles III | 60% | 20% | 34% |
Elizabeth leads on raw positive. She leads by an even wider margin on “very positive” — 51% vs William’s 39%. That intensity gap is the real story. People do not just like Elizabeth. They rate her highly.
By July 2026, the living royals held steady: William 76%, Kate 74%, Anne 70%, Charles 62%. Elizabeth was not re-polled, but her April figure had been consistent with the last years of her reign.
2. The age split underneath
Among over-65s, 73% hold a “very positive” view of Elizabeth. Among under-50s, that drops to 37-38%. She is popular across all ages (72-92% positive), but the intensity of feeling is generational.
Charles faces a sharper version of the same split. Only 37% of 18-24 year olds view him positively, compared to 80% of over-65s. His job approval hit a record 68% in July 2026 — but one in three Britons (34%) still view him negatively.
William and Kate are the closest to Elizabeth’s cross-generational reach, but neither has her “very positive” intensity.
3. What this means for the monarchy
84% of Britons say Elizabeth did a good job as queen. 68% say Charles is doing a good job as king. That 16-point gap is not disapproval of Charles — it is the distance between competent and beloved.
The monarchy itself holds: 64% of Britons want to keep it. But among 18-24 year olds, only 45% agree, nearly tied with the 38% who want a republic.
Elizabeth’s numbers are a ceiling no living royal has reached. Whether that ceiling holds as the generation that remembers her reign ages out is the question the next decade of rankings data will answer.
Sources to check yourself
- YouGov Royal Family Favourability Trackers, April 2026 (full tables, free)
- YouGov Royal Family Favourability Trackers, July 2026 (living royals update)
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