When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved to California in 2020, many predicted they would soon become America’s sweethearts. Instead, it looks like their “archnemesis” Prince William is set to take that crown, alongside his wife Kate Middleton, as a new poll names the future King the US’s favourite public figure. And they’re set for another popularity boost as they prepare for a trip to New York in the new few weeks. It’s left the Duke and Duchess of Sussex raging, as – despite their best efforts – they still struggle to win approval.

“This is a huge triumph for William and the royals as a whole,” says a source close to the Prince of Wales, who is dad to Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and five-year-old Prince Louis. “It’s extremely flattering to be so popular in the US and William’s honoured. America is often very divided and polarised, so to be getting so much positive recognition over there is incredible. He says Kate deserves equal credit as well as his father and all the serving royals. Everyone at the Palace has been going out of their way to preserve and build on that special relationship that’s always existed between the two countries, so this feels like a huge step in the right direction. And it means he and Kate will be spending a lot more time in the States moving forward, to build on this popularity.”

The US poll found William is the most popular “newsmaker” across the Atlantic, with a 59 per cent favourable approval rating. It puts him higher than his dad, King Charles III, the current US President, Joe Biden, and even popular Ukraine President, Volodymyr Zelensky. It seems the 41-year-old Prince also crosses the political divide, with six out of 10 Republicans and Democrats saying they view him positively. It comes as William and Kate, 41, prepare for their visit to New York for the annual innovation summit on 18th and 19th September. It also follows a successful trip to Boston in December, where they attended the Earthshot Prize, a £50million environmental award, designed to save the planet.

But it hasn’t gone down well with Wills’ little brother, Harry – or his wife. “Meghan’s in full meltdown about this new poll,” says Closer’s source close to the former Suits star, who quit royal duties alongside the Duke in 2020, leaving the UK and setting up multiple tell-all interviews about the life they’d left behind. “She and Harry are both saying this stinks to the core. It seems like the Waleses are going out of their way to invade their territory and steal their fan base, when they should be focusing on the UK. William and Kate should have nothing to do with the US, and it feels like they’re deliberately trying to show them up.” When Harry, 38, and Meghan, 42, bought their $15million mansion in the heart of celeb-land, Montecito, there was much excited talk of them joining the inner circles of the A-list. They seemed on the cusp of a huge media career, thanks to a $100million deal with Netflix, along with another $25m from Spotify. There were also whispers of the couple – who are parents to Archie, four, and two-year-old Lilibet – becoming full time environmentalists, philanthropists, UN ambassadors, or even politicians.

Instead, things have taken a downward turn, with Spotify pulling the plug on Meghan’s podcast, Archetypes after only 12 episodes, and experts declaring Harry’s memoir, Spare to be “the most discarded book of the summer,” according to travel company On the Beach. CCO Zoe Harris explained, “We’ve never witnessed anything quite like it. Lost property offices in our most popular resorts are brimming with copies of Spare.” They’ve now asked hotels to “stop sending them over otherwise we’ll never get rid of them all.” The series of failures has seen Meghan and Harry’s own popularity nose dive, with one UK poll suggesting in June that 68% of respondents had a negative view of Meghan – a new all-time low. Even the celebs who live in close quarters have turned their backs, with Closer recently reporting on Hollywood’s VIPs trying to get Kate and William on side – and rejecting Harry and Meghan in the process. The New York Post claimed, “Celebrities, including their high-profile neighbours Steven Spielberg, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Rob Lowe, are staying away from the exiled royals in fear that they will spill their secrets – and alienate them from Prince William and Kate Middleton.” A source added, “The big power players in Hollywood aren’t jeopardising their business for Harry and Meghan.”

Our insider continues, “The timing of all this is what irks Harry and Meghan. It seems to them that the Waleses go out of their way to pop up and hog the headlines right when they’re trying to get back on their feet and regain their popularity and status. It happened when William and Kate last came to the States, which coincided with Harry and Meghan accepting an award in NYC. Then in swooped William and Kate down the road in Boston to grab all the headlines. To Harry and Meghan, it feels like they left the UK to get away from the royal family but all they get is reminders of them all the time, with opinion polls and grand state visits. It’s hugely annoying.”

Things have been tense between the two formerly close brothers since Harry met Meghan in 2016. The Duke detailed the relationship breakdown in Spare, writing about how William called Meghan “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”, leading to a physical fight. There were also several petty references to William’s “alarming” baldness, and one section where Harry claimed his brother was jealous of his beard. And all the royal bashing is another reason the Americans apparently favour William. Last week royal expert, Simon Perry told The Telegraph, “There is no doubt that airing private arguments in public has not gone down well with large parts of the American population”. Joe Little, editor of Majesty magazine added, “Nowadays William is admired for the way he combines his role as heir to the throne with a relatively private family life. In the US, and elsewhere, he and Catherine are very much seen as the future of the British monarchy.”

And we’re told William – who will join policymakers, global business leaders, philanthropists and climate activists at the September event – couldn’t care less how all this affects the Sussexes. “The notion that Harry and Meghan could be threatened by his popularity in America is ridiculous to him,” says our source. “The royals are merely promoting and endorsing the wider interests of Britain as a whole, and it’s important to William and Kate that they put their names behind important environmental causes. They want to help those in need, while representing the royal family whenever they’re asked to. He’s really not bothered if that upsets his little brother…”