The Duke and Duchess of Sussex suffer a fresh blow today as it is revealed an overwhelming four-to-one majority of Britons are opposed to them using their titles for commercial gain.
An exclusive poll for The Mail on Sunday also shows strong public appetite for Prince William to be more transparent about his finances amid criticism of his refusal to disclose how much income tax he pays.
And the survey shows that a significant proportion of people do not believe King Charles’s landmark state visit to the US – during which he will meet President Trump five times over four days – should go ahead.
The poll for the MoS comes after a four-day visit to Australia by Harry and Meghan – dubbed a ‘faux royal tour’ – raised new questions about whether the couple are cashing in on their Duke and Duchess of Sussex titles.
To the dismay of royal insiders, the Sussexes mixed charity work with highly lucrative business deals – exactly what Queen Elizabeth II feared when she ordered that they commit to being either in or out of the Royal Family.
The late monarch insisted there could be no halfway house in the run-up to what was dubbed Megxit, when they left the UK six years ago to build new lives across the Atlantic.
On the final day of the Australian tour, Meghan spent two hours with female fans, who paid up to £1,700 to ask her questions and pose for pictures at a money-spinning ‘ultimate girls’ weekend’ in Sydney. The Duchess will reportedly net up to £130,000 for turning up to the women-only Her Best Life retreat.
Sitting in a pink armchair on a stage resembling a daytime television set, the Duchess posed a question to the assembled women: ‘I’ve spent all my life investing in women, can I finally invest in me?’
Meghan, 44, who complained during the tour of being the ‘most trolled person in the entire world’, is also reportedly earning money from an online shopping platform built around the outfits she wears on charitable engagements.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry, 41, appeared as a guest speaker at Melbourne’s InterEdge Summit, where platinum delegate tickets were on sale for £1,250. Those close to the Duke and Duchess are said to believe the visit has been a huge success and will form the blueprint of future tours.
One insider said: ‘We’ve tested the playbook; it worked.’
But the exclusive analysis for the MoS reveals that 61 per cent of 2,000 British adults surveyed by Find Out Now believe Harry and Meghan should not be allowed to use their Sussex titles ‘for commercial or personal advantage.’
Only 16 per cent of Britons believed they should be allowed to use their titles for money-spinning ventures, while 23 per cent did not know. When the don’t knows are stripped out, the majority is just under 80 per cent to 20 per cent.
The survey will also make uncomfortable reading for the Prince of Wales amid increased scrutiny on the Duchy of Cornwall – the £1billion property, investments and land portfolio he took control of when he became heir to the throne. It brings him an income of nearly £23million a year.
The prince voluntarily pays the top rate of income tax on the profits he receives from the Duchy – but he has not divulged the amount of tax he pays.
This is in contrast to his father the King, who did outline how much income tax he paid when he was heir to the throne.
Earlier this month it emerged that William has received millions of pounds of public money from the Duchy of Cornwall’s leasing of HMP Dartmoor – a category C jail in Devon that has stood empty since July 2024 after high levels of a toxic gas were discovered.
Asked whether Prince William should be more transparent about where his income comes from and how it is spent, 54 per cent of those surveyed said he should, 23 per cent said he should not and 23 per cent did not know.
The poll also revealed that 46 per cent believe that, after he becomes King, William should ensure that the wills of senior royals, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, should be made public.
It has been the convention for more than a century that, after the death of a senior member of the Royal Family, the courts are asked to seal their wills. The late Queen and Prince Philip’s wills have been sealed for at least 90 years.
Our exclusive poll comes ahead of the third anniversary of King Charles’ coronation in Westminster Abbey – and a week before he and Queen Camilla are hosted by President Trump on a state visit to the US.
It is hoped the King and Queen’s high-profile trip will ease US-UK tensions over the war in Iran and a string of outbursts by the President, including the jibe that Keir Starmer is ‘no Winston Churchill’.
The public, however, do not appear to believe the King should meet the President, with less than a third of those surveyed saying the state visit should go ahead.
There is, however, public support for the Palace’s decision that the King and Queen will not meet survivors of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein during the visit. The poll found that 45 per cent do not believe they should meet some of Epstein’s victims, while only 24 per cent said they should.
The survey also revealed that 40 per cent of Britons believe King Charles is doing a good job, while only 16 per cent said he is doing a bad one. A total of 44 per cent said they did not know. When don’t knows are stripped out, the figures are 71 per cent to 29 per cent.
The King is expected to renew his vow of service to the nation this week as part of commemorations of the life of Queen Elizabeth on what would have been her 100th birthday.
Tyron Surmon, Head of Research at Find Out Now, said: ‘On one hand the public are positive about Charles and think he’s doing a good job as King. But on the other hand, they think Prince William should be more transparent about his finances, and overwhelmingly think the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shouldn’t be using their titles for commercial gain.
‘This will be a fine line for King Charles and Queen Camilla to walk, especially with their upcoming state visit to the US, which the public don’t think should go ahead.’
