Queen Elizabeth is Australia’s most popular royal from the past 25 years, according to a new poll.
News.com.au conducted the poll and asked everyday Australians to vote for their favourite royal out of the late Queen, her late husband Philip, King Charles, Queen Camilla, Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
Queen Elizabeth II won the poll by a landslide.
The monarch, who died in 2022 at the age of 96, spent the last years of her life shaking off the “cold fish” reputation she earned in the wake of Princess Diana’s death in 1997.
Kate Middleton joining the royal family in 2011, when she married Prince William, began to warm the public’s perception of the royal family once more.
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Then in 2012, the Queen warmed even the most anti-royal of hearts when she met 007 and then skydived into the London Olympic opening ceremony. As the years went on, the Queen became a beloved figure once more as she demonstrated her commitment to her duties, her unexpected cheeky sense of humour and her love for her pet Corgis.
Kate Middleton was voted as Australia’s second favourite member of the royal family.
The 43-year-old won over hearts when she married the Prince and gave birth to their three children — Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10 and Prince Louis, 7.
She further embedded herself as a much loved member of Britain’s most high profile family when she started experimenting with her wardrobe, with the help of her long-time assistant, Natasha Archer. Tash, as she’s affectionately known by the royal family, helped Kate transition from more traditional coat suits to modern suiting, which has been dubbed as the “Kate Middleton effect”.
“Initially Kate was a reluctant fashion icon, but now she enjoys it. Tash helps source some of the clothes,” an insider told Vanity Fair in a 2014 interview. “She shops a lot for Kate online, and calls in hundreds of dresses for Kate to try on. She has persuaded Kate to take some more risks. The hemlines are shorter and Kate’s really pushing the boat out in the fashion stakes.”
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The public’s love for Kate only deepened when she announced she was undergoing treatment for cancer.
In January this year, the mum-of-three announced she was in remission but her return to normal royal duties would be gradual.
“You’re not necessarily under the clinical team any longer, but you’re not able to function normally at home as you perhaps once used to,” she said while visiting Colchester Hospital in Essex at the beginning of July. “And actually, someone to help talk you through that, show you, and guide you through that sort of phase that comes after treatment, I think is really valuable.”
“You have to find your new normal and that takes time… and it’s a roller coaster, it’s not smooth, like you expect it to be,” she continued. “But the reality is you go through hard times.”
