Prince Harry and William are More Famous in U.S. Than Kate and Meghan

Prince Harry and Prince William are more famous in America than Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, despite the fashion icon status of the two princesses.

Both have been known to cause outfits to sell out after just a single public appearance and Meghan already had a following from her role as Rachel Zane in Suits before she ever met Harry.

So, some may be forgiven for thinking the royal women outshine their husbands, as Princess Diana famously did with King Charles III.

However, new polling suggests that more Americans are aware of Harry and William than Meghan and Kate.

YouGov conducts quarterly surveys asking U.S. adults what they think of different public figures and found 85 percent were familiar with Meghan and 84 percent with Kate between April and June of 2023, compared to 95 percent for both Harry and William.

The pollsters' "fame" rating relates to how many people have heard of a public figure, rather than how popular they are, which is measured separately.

Kate remains the most popular royal among Americans after 46 percent said they liked her compared to 11 percent who disliked her, giving a net approval of +35.

Meghan was least liked out of the four royals, with 40 percent feeling positive towards her compared to 23 percent who felt negatively, balancing out at +17.

Meanwhile, Harry was liked by 48 percent and disliked by 24 percent, putting him on +24, while William was liked by 43 percent and disliked by 21 percent, putting him on +22.

Harry and Meghan's royal bombshells drew worldwide attention both at the time of the March 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview and also with their Netflix show in December 2022, as well as the release of the prince's book Spare in January 2023.

However, Harry and William's greater fame may also be down to the fact that their relationship with the U.S. public dates back to the day they were born, when they were celebrated as the children of Diana and Charles in the 1980s.

Even Meghan's status as a homegrown American princess, coupled with high-profile swipes at the royals, was seemingly not enough to outshine the enduring, lifelong fame held by Harry and William.

And this comes despite the fact she was once tipped as a possible future U.S. president, whose own past criticisms of Donald Trump earned clap backs from him while he was in the White House.

It is also striking that in the face of repeated criticisms from Harry and Meghan, William and Kate said almost nothing but are no less famous for their silence.

The lesson appears to be that making noise does not always heighten fame, which may lie as much in status as it does in volume.

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

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