Yahoo Lifestyle Queen, Harry and Meghan more admired than William and Kate by young people, new survey reveals
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The Queen is respected by young people ahead of Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Prince William, according to research by a youth mental health charity.
Ahead of the first Youth Mental Health Day, stem4 asked 1000 teenagers and young people in the UK about who they most respected in different categories, with the monarch topping the poll for public figure.
She won 25% of the vote, followed by Prince Harry (22%), Meghan Markle (21%), Bill Gates (17%), Dr Alex George (16%) Boris Johnson (14%), Kate Middleton (11%) and Prince William (10%).
Stem4 said the most common reasons for admiring these people were "they are brave and resilient, and even when things go wrong and they are criticised, they carry on" followed by "they stand up for people’s rights and make society a better place".
While the Queen was the most popular in her category, David Attenborough was ranked as most popular in the inspiring figure category at 54%, the highest of all those voted for by the group.
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Dr Nihara Krause, founder and chief executive at stem4, said: "To earn the respect of young people today you don’t need to earn a fortune or have good looks.
"It’s far more important that you show bravery, resilience, and compassion for others and for nature.
"Those are certainly qualities the Queen shares with some of the other names on this list such as David Attenborough and Marcus Rashford.
"It’s also significant that many of the most admired famous people are those, like Billie Eilish and Prince Harry, who have been open about their own mental health challenges.
"Problems like anxiety, depression and self-harm are sadly very common among young people and it makes a huge difference to them when public figures have the courage to open up."
The charity named Princess Diana as a notable mention in the public figures category, while Meghan and Harry's friend Oprah Winfrey was praised in the 'inspirational figures' category.
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Stem4 surveyed 1032 young people aged between 13 and 25 between 26 and 29 May 2021 in the UK.
The Queen consistently ranks top of polling about the most popular royal conducted by YouGov.
She is usually closely followed by her grandson Prince William, who has also previously been ranked as people's preferred next monarch - rather than Prince Charles.
However the future of the monarchy was cast into doubt in a recent poll which showed that younger people were more likely to want an elected head of state, instead of continuing the monarchy.
Harry and Meghan are also often more popular with younger people, and less popular among those in older age groups.
Stem4 conducted the survey about the wider hopes and aspirations of young people after the pandemic.
Most of the respondents (70%) said they wanted to be happy and healthy, while 56% said they wanted a stable job. Only 27% expressed a desire to make a lot of money.
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