Avatar photo

Compiled by Bonginkosi Tiwane

Digital Journalist


Even in death Queen Elizabeth II is still trending and influential

Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana remain some of the most influential royals, surpassing King Charles by far, a study has revealed.


A recent study has revealed that Queen Elizabeth II remains the most talked about royal, with more Google searches, TikTok views, Instagram hashtags, and articles written combined than any other royal.

In research conducted by GetInsta, which analysed global Google searches, TikTok views, Instagram hashtags, and articles of numerous British royals to identify who is the most influential, the late monarch whose demise came last September, came out tops.

According to the research, the Queen brings in a total of 7.9 million global Google searches a month, has had 26.1 billion views under her hashtag, appears in 1.7 million Instagram hashtags, and has been written about in 916,869 articles in the previous year. 

Her controversial grandson Prince Harry follows behind and the second most influential royal, followed by his wife Meghan Markle.  Harry has an accumulation of 2 million global Google searches per month, 14.1 billion TikTok tags, featuring in 1.2 million Instagram hashtags, and has appeared in 931,224 articles in the past year.

The release of his tell-all book Spare in January, and the publicity for this, has led to a surge in articles discussing its contents, insights, and implications – as well as sparking debates.

The Duchess of Sussex boasts a monthly global Google search of 4.3 million, was tagged in 11.7 billion TikToks, appeared in 1.2 million Instagram hashtags, and has had 705,203 articles written about her within the past 12 months.

ALOS READ: King Charles III celebrates 75th birthday

A not-so influential King

King Charles is ranked fifth after his mother, son and both of his daughters-in-law. But Charles had the most articles written about him this year with his wife Queen Consort Camilla Parker-Bowles having the least amount.

Owing to his coronation in May, articles about King Charles increased more than previous years. They focus on the potential changes or continuity in the monarchy under his reign, and the actions, statements, and activities of the reigning monarch often attract more media attention compared to other members of the royal family.

Despite her passing 26 years ago, Princess Diana is ranked as the sixth most influential royal. Her long-lasting influence shows through her viewership even now, with 1.7 million global Google searches per month, 17.8 billion TikTok views, featuring in 978,000 Instagram hashtags, and in the past year has had 293,363 articles featuring her.

The Crown new season receives mixed reviews

Streaming platform Netflix released the sixth season of the television series The Crown, which details the royals’ lives. But the award winning series has received mixed reviews for its first few episodes.

A headline by The Guardian read: “‘Royally lost the plot’: How The Crown went from prestige drama to TV disaster.”

The publication described it as “trashy…soapy…unwittingly comical… bordering on the exploitative.” One of the paper’s reviewers, Lucy Mangan, “found it so excruciating to watch” that she felt like she was having an “out-of-body experience”.

NOW READ: Nomzamo Mbatha rubs shoulders with Prince William as King Charles rebrands to reflect his royal status

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits