Prince William More Popular Now Than Before Harry's 'Spare …

Prince William is now more popular in the U.S. than he was before Prince Harry's public criticisms in his Spare memoir and six-part Netflix docuseries, new polling for Newsweek has revealed. William bore the brunt of Harry's more unforgiving takedowns in his memoir, which was published in January, becoming the fastest-selling non-fiction book of all time. Among a number of claims of jealousy, unsupportiveness and betrayal, Harry lodged an allegation of physical assault against William in recounting a 2019 argument at Kensington Palace that saw the future king knock his brother to the ground.

Harry also revealed in his Netflix series with Meghan Markle, released in December, that during the summit at Sandringham House in 2020 to determine his exit from the royal family, he found William "terrifying" as he was "screamed and shouted" at.

Prince William photographed in London on October 4, 2022. The prince's popularity has increased in the U.S. since December. Samir Hussein/WireImage

William, along with other members of the royal family discussed in the media projects, didn't come out of the experience unscathed. All saw their popularity in the U.S. diminish as a result.

In December, before the Netflix release, polling found that William had a net approval rating in the U.S. of +40. In January, after the Netflix and Spare releases, this had nearly halved to +21. However, new polling undertaken by strategists Redfield & Wilton for Newsweek on April 4, shows that the American public have reassessed their views on William, now viewing him more favorably than before Harry's recent revelations.

From a representative sample of 1,500 registered U.S. voters, 51 percent said they viewed the prince favorably against 10 percent who said they viewed him unfavorably. That gives the prince a net approval rating of +41, one percentage point higher than in December. William, alongside wife Kate Middleton, are the most popular royal couple among the American public, though the princess takes the lead over her husband with a net approval rating of +43.

As of the April polling, all members of the royal family have added 10 points or more to their net approval ratings over February's data, which was previously published by Newsweek.

Prince William and Kate Middleton at Royal Ascot on June 17, 2022. William and Kate are the most popular royal couple among Americans. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Prince Harry currently has a net approval rating of +8 and Meghan Markle of -6. Though these have increased over February's scores of -10 and -17, they are still far below their pre-Netflix and Spare December 2022 ratings of +38 and +33.

William has seen his public profile increase in the months since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022 at the age of 96. In one of his first acts as monarch, the new King Charles III made his eldest son the Prince of Wales, with Kate becoming the first Princess of Wales to use the title since Princess Diana. In their new capacities, William and Kate have undertaken a number of high profile engagements including being made royal colonels of the Welsh and Irish Guards military regiments.

On Harry's claims in his Netflix show and memoir, William has remained silent, adopting the same "no comment" stance as King Charles at Buckingham Palace.

Though Harry has been criticized for appearing to publicly attack his older brother, he has made efforts to stress in interviews that he still loves William, but he acknowledges there has been difficulties between them that may not have been obvious to the public before. "My brother and I love each other. I love him deeply," the prince told 60 Minutes' Anderson Cooper ahead of his memoir's publication. "There has been a lot of pain between the two of us, especially the last six years."

"None of anything I've written, anything that I've included is ever intended to hurt my family," he continued. "But it does give a full picture of the situation as we were growing up, and also squashes this idea that somehow my wife [Meghan Markle] was the one that destroyed the relationship between these two brothers."

Prince Harry and Prince William photographed on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on July 10, 2018. The brothers are both set to attend the coronation of King Charles III on May 6 in London. Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

Harry and William are set to be reunited for the first time since the media projects were released for the coronation of their father on May 6. The last time the brothers attended the same event was for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth.

For the coronation, however, Meghan will not be in attendance. A statement released on behalf of King Charles on Wednesday read: "Buckingham Palace is pleased to confirm that The Duke of Sussex will attend the Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey on 6th May. The Duchess of Sussex will remain in California with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet."

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith 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?

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