Nearly half of Brits side with Prince Harry in palace stay fiasco
Nearly half of Britons believe Prince Harry should be allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace during his current visit to the U.K., according to a new YouGov poll conducted as controversy swirls around his accommodation arrangements.
King Charles III had offered Harry accommodation at the palace, but the offer was withdrawn after the prince initially rejected it on Saturday morning and then sought to accept it later that day.
A survey of 6,323 British adults found that 48 percent said Harry should be allowed to stay at the royal residence, compared with 27 percent who said he should not. A further 25 percent said they did not know.
The findings come after Newsweek was told palace aides believed it was too late to make staffing arrangements for Harry’s visit by the time he accepted. They were also concerned his stay would overlap with the judgment in a lawsuit he filed against the publisher of the Daily Mail, due on Tuesday.
Why It Matters
Prince Harry’s U.K. visit had offered an opportunity to build on improved relations not only between Harry and the king but also between the wider Sussex team and Charles’ aides. The two camps met for drinks at a private members club in London in summer 2025.
The prince also had tea with his father at Clarence House in September, and there had been hopes Charles might see Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet for the first time in four years during this visit. The dispute about accommodation has cast doubt on that possibility, though Newsweek has been told the Sussex camp still hope a meeting will be possible.
What the Poll Found
YouGov found that Britons were almost twice as likely to support Harry being allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace as to oppose it.
Younger and middle-aged adults were particularly supportive. Half of respondents aged 25 to 49 said Harry should be allowed to stay at the palace, while 49 percent of those aged 50 to 64 agreed.
Opposition was strongest among older respondents. Among those aged 65 and over, 35 percent said Harry should not be allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace, though even within that age group 46 percent said he should be permitted to do so.
The youngest adults, aged 18 to 24, were the least certain, with 40 percent answering “don’t know.” However, even in that cohort, support for Harry staying at Buckingham Palace stood at 42 percent compared with 18 percent opposed.
The results should also be viewed in the context of Buckingham Palace’s initial decision to offer Harry accommodation. The dispute was not over whether he could stay at the palace in principle, but over the practical complications that arose after he initially declined the offer and later sought to reverse that decision.
The Wider Context
The poll was published as Harry arrived in Britain for a five-day visit that coincides with the outcome of his long-running privacy lawsuit against Associated Newspapers Limited, publisher of the Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday.
Harry’s first public appearance after arriving in London was the U.K. premiere of Shoot The People at Picturehouse Central, where he was photographed with Misan Harriman, the photographer who took the image that marked Harry and Meghan’s announcement of her pregnancy with Princess Lilibet.
Alongside them was Afua Hirsch, a British writer and broadcaster who was one of the interviewees in the couple’s 2022 Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan. Hirsch sparked a debate in the show when she said the Commonwealth of Nations, which counts Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III as its past and current heads, was “Empire 2.0.”
On Tuesday, Harry was due to undertake his first engagement promoting the Invictus Games, his adaptive sports tournament for veterans which is to be hosted in Birmingham, England, in 2027.
That cause is the main reason he has traveled to the U.K. though Newsweek has been told he does hope to see Charles. He has not brought Meghan and their children to the London leg of the trip but it is still possible they will join him later, the Sussex team has said.
According to information provided to Newsweek, complications arose after Harry learned he would not receive police protection for the visit following a Home Office decision communicated on June 26. Newsweek has been told he then spent last week trying to arrange additional private security provision, causing the delay in his acceptance of the offer to stay at Buckingham Palace. He also suggested the palace was not a suitable option, asking for other royal residences to be considered in the days before the offer was withdrawn.
The dispute has increased tensions between Harry’s team and palace officials, though Newsweek has been told it has not affected the relationship between the duke and the king.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Wider UK Popularity
The findings come against the backdrop of broader challenges for Prince Harry and Meghan’s popularity in Britain. A YouGov royal favorability tracker published in April found that only 30 percent of Britons had a positive view of Harry, while 60 percent viewed him negatively.
Meghan’s numbers were weaker still, with 20 percent holding a positive opinion of the Duchess of Sussex and 67 percent expressing a negative view.
The figures represented a difficult period for the Sussexes in British public opinion and highlighted the gap between their standing in the U.K. and their continued prominence in international media coverage.
YouGov described Harry and Meghan as unpopular with the British public, with both trailing well behind senior working royals including Prince William, Princess Kate and Charles.
However, the latest Buckingham Palace polling suggests that public attitudes toward specific disputes involving Harry can differ from broader favorability ratings.
While only 30 percent of Britons held a positive view of the duke in April, 48 percent said he should be allowed to stay at Buckingham Palace during his current visit, indicating that some voters who dislike Harry nevertheless believe he should be accommodated at a royal residence when visiting Britain.
