Harry, Meghan and Andrew are the most unpopular senior royals, poll shows

The last few months have been a dramatic and emotional time for the Royal Family.

The Queen's death shook up the foundations of the family, with Charles's accession to the throne heralding a new era.

In recent weeks, the latest series of The Crown has once again shone an unwanted spotlight onto the turbulent marriage of Charles and Diana, while the legal issues for Prince Andrew and Prince Harry’s dip in popularity as he builds a new life in the US have also brought fresh turmoil.

Now, new polling from YouGov has revealed the British public's favourite members of the Royal Family, following the death of the Queen.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Andrew came out as the least popular member of the Royal Family, with 85% of respondents holding a negative view of him – and just 13% holding a positive view.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are the next two most unpopular with the public, with 60% holding a negative view of Meghan and over half (52%) seeing Harry in a negative light.

This stands in stark contrast to the couple's popularity from just a few years ago, when one poll found Harry to be second in popularity with Britons to the Queen, with 71% holding a positive view of him – compared to 39% in the latest poll.

The same poll from 2019 also gave Meghan a 50% popularity rating, compared to 28% now.

Watch: Prince Andrew and Prince Harry royal roles challenged in Parliament

Elsewhere in the poll, that was taken after the latest series of The Crown was aired on Netflix, Princess Diana was found to be more popular (72%) than King Charles (67%).

Out of those who thought of Diana positively, over a third (34%) held a "very positive" view of her.

The most popular royal is Prince William, who holds an 81% popularity rating, while his wife, the Princess of Wales, is in second place, with 75% holding a positive view of her.

The poll found that 60% have a favourable opinion of the institution of the monarchy in general – but just 20% said they had a "very positive" view.

Charles's popularity was highest with the 65+ age group (79%) – but his popularity waned in the younger groups, with just 37% of 18-24 year olds holding a positive view of him overall.

The Crown has reignited the interest in the marriage of Charles and Diana, with one storyline showing Charles cutting short a holiday with Diana to host a secret meeting with then-prime minister Sir John Major at Highgrove in 1991 in which they discuss potentially ousting the Queen.

It also covers storylines including Martin Bashir's controversial Panorama interview with Diana and the subsequent media storm it created.

However, Netflix were forced to put a disclaimer in the description of its YouTube trailer for the fifth series of The Crown, saying the production is a "fictional dramatisation" and "inspired by real events".

This followed Major dismissing the show as a "barrel-load of nonsense" and "malicious fiction".

The royals are set to face fresh turmoil when Meghan and Harry’s docuseries airs next month.

Details have been kept under wraps over what will be seen in the series, with much of it filmed before the Queen’s death in September.

The series will air just weeks before Harry’s book, Spare, is released, which will detail his "difficult decision to change his destiny and start a new life elsewhere", according to Yahoo News UK’s royal executive editor Omid Scobie.

King Charles has signalled there is no way back into public royal life for Andrew and Harry after extending his list of counsellors of state, those who can deputise for the monarch if he is overseas on an official trip or ill.

Charles included the Princess Royal and Earl of Essex to the list – essentially sidelining both Harry and Andrew without removing them entirely.