The More Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Say, the Less Americans Like Them

Prince Harry has dropped 45 points in United States public opinion while Meghan Markle has dropped 36 points in just more than a month, according to exclusive polling for Newsweek.

The Duke of Sussex's memoir Spare became the fastest-selling non-fiction book ever on the day of its release, according to the publisher, making it a huge commercial success.

However, a passage in which Harry described the memory of his mother wafting back as he applied her favorite lip balm to his frostbitten penis exposed the prince to ridicule from the likes of Jimmy Kimmel and others.

There have also been concerns about Harry's inclusion of private conversations with family, with the debate stretching beyond Britain to major U.S. voices such as CNN's Don Lemon.

Redfield & Wilton polled 2,000 U.S. eligible voters for Newsweek on January 16, six days after the publication of Spare.

Prince Harry was liked by 31 percent and disliked by 38 percent giving him a net approval rating of -7. Data collected by Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek as recently as December 5 put Harry at +38, meaning he dropped 45 points in just more than a month.

Meghan was viewed favorably by 26 percent of Americans and unfavorably by 39 percent, giving her a net approval rating of -13. This compares to +23 on December 5, a drop of 36 points.

Almost half of Americans, 44 percent, said Harry was wrong to include details of private family conversations in his book, while 26 percent said he was right to do so.

The data is particularly awkward for Harry and Meghan because so much of their narrative rests on their account of how the British media unfairly vilified them.

As Harry told Oprah Winfrey about the media's role in his decision to leave Britain in March 2021: "Unfortunately, if the source of the information is inherently corrupt or racist or biased, then that filters out to the rest of society."

However, the couple was popular in the United Kingdom right up until their January 2020 decision to quit, with polling as late as November 2019 showing Harry on +51 and Meghan on +20 among U.K. adults, according to YouGov.

By the time of that survey, many of the most famous negative articles about them had already been published, from a story linking Meghan's love of avocados to climate change to a Daily Mail article suggesting the duchess was "(Almost) Straight Outta Compton."

Harry and Meghan are now both significantly more unpopular in America than they were in Britain in 2019 while they were working royals, in spite of the U.K. media's trivial complaints about the color of Meghan's black nail varnish or her decision to close her own car door.

In the latest Redfield & Wilton polling for Newsweek, two-thirds of Americans had heard either a "slight," "fair" or "significant" amount about Spare compared to 34 percent who had heard nothing.

Asked whether their opinion of Harry had changed since the book and his Netflix documentary, 16 percent said they had a more positive view, 24 percent had a more negative view and 37 percent recorded no change while 23 percent said they did not know.

For Meghan, the figures were 16 percent more positive, 23 percent more negative and 38 percent no change.

Newsweek's data suggests that the couple has alienated a core market among American 18-24-year-olds, with 31 percent viewing Harry positively and 38 percent viewing him negatively.

Among Gen Z, 26 percent viewed Meghan positively while 34 percent viewed her negatively and there was also no sign that her outspoken views on feminism had won her support among women.

Among men, 27 percent liked Meghan compared to 26 percent of women while 38 percent of men disliked her compared to 40 percent of women.

The one demographic where they appeared slightly more successful was among Democrats, with Joe Biden voters more likely to be positive than those who backed Donald Trump in 2020.

Even then though, the margins were tight with 35 percent of Biden supporters liking Meghan compared to 32 percent who disliked her. For Harry, 37 percent of Biden voters liked him compared to 35 percent who did not.

Those figures alone are striking given that Meghan was once viewed by commentators as a future candidate for U.S. president. The speculation may have been just gossip within the media, but it needless to say demonstrates how well-positioned they were with progressives previously and how far they have now slid.

The collapse in their standing among the demographic groups they have sought to target historically asks major questions about the couple's PR strategy.

The shift in American public opinion comes at a point when young people in Britain have swung against the monarchy, with 52 percent of 18-24-year-olds now wanting to switch to an elected head of state and just five percent holding a "very positive" view of the royal family.

Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.