Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has climbed in the eyes of the British public following his reunion with his father, King Charles, on July 10, according to a newly released YouGov survey that tracks sentiment toward the Royal Family four times a year. The Duke’s favourability rating rose to 33 percent in a poll conducted July 21-22, up from 30 percent in the previous survey taken in late April.
The uptick landed roughly eleven days after Harry met Charles at Highgrove, the king’s private residence in Gloucestershire. Harry brought his wife, Meghan Markle, and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, to the property during a five-day visit to the country. The gathering marked the first time the monarch had seen his California-based grandchildren face-to-face in several years.
The numbers still tilt against the Duke. Despite the rise, 58 percent of respondents held a negative view of Harry, with the remainder unsure. His approval has crept up 6 percent since the May 2025 poll, when compared against last year’s figure of 27 percent — while negative opinion has eased from 62 percent to 58 percent, the tracker shows.
A Father-Son Thaw
Royal watchers have tied the modest bounce directly to Harry’s efforts to repair his relationship with his father. Tracy Schaverien, HELLO!’s royal contributor, credited the visit with signalling something to the public. Taking Meghan and the children to Highgrove proved Harry is serious about reconciling with his family, she said.
Harry has spoken openly about that hope, saying there is no point in continuing to fight and that he would welcome a reconciliation. His popularity with Britons has been sliding since 2017, the year he became engaged to Meghan, and he has not been a working royal since 2020.
The reunion capped a bruising stretch. Harry recently lost a court case against Associated Newspapers Limited, the publisher whose titles include the Daily Mail, and now faces expected costs in the millions. Even so, sources close to him described the Duke as remaining upbeat following a challenging period that those around him admitted had taken its toll.
Charles at His Peak
If Harry gained ground, his father commanded it. King Charles registered his highest approval rating since ascending the throne, with 68 percent of the public saying he is doing a good job as monarch. The result caps a sustained run of goodwill; his personal favourability has hovered between 59 percent and 63 percent over the past two years.
The Prince and Princess of Wales held the survey’s top spots, drawing 76 percent and 74 percent favourability respectively — figures that have remained steady across recent years. Princess Anne, long regarded as the family’s most industrious member, placed third at 70 percent. Prince Edward and Sophie drew 53 percent and 51 percent.
The lower reaches told a harsher story. Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, who have kept out of the limelight for the last several months, posted 30 percent and 29 percent — their first appearance in a YouGov survey of this kind. Meghan Markle registered 22 percent, up 3 percentage points. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the former Prince Andrew, sat at the bottom with 2 percent, as 92 percent of respondents viewed him negatively. Support for the monarchy overall has stayed roughly level throughout Charles’ reign, with close to two-thirds in favour of keeping the institution.
The Brother Who Stayed Away
One figure was conspicuously absent from the Highgrove afternoon. Prince William did not meet his brother, and the rift between them remains entrenched. During the week of Harry’s visit, the Prince of Wales toured the London Welsh School on Tuesday, travelled to Hastings on the south coast on Thursday, and joined the Princess of Wales at Guards Polo Club in Windsor for The Royal Charity Polo Cup 2026 on Friday, hours before news of the meeting broke.
Robert Jobson, author of the biography “The Windsor Legacy,” told Newsweek that William has no plans to reconcile, describing the prince as feeling betrayed by Harry and viewing the matter as closed. Ingrid Seward, author of “My Mother and I,” described William’s posture toward the reconciliation as complete disinterest.
The Sussex visit was itself a prelude. Harry returned to Britain as the calendar reached twelve months before Birmingham hosts the upcoming Invictus Games. Charles now faces a decision about whether to attend the opening ceremony.
For now, the poll offers Harry a rare piece of favourable news. Archie and Lilibet had not spent meaningful time with their grandfather since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June 2022, when they were 3 and 1. Whether the goodwill holds — or whether it survives the looming financial fallout from his court defeat — remains an open question.