The most Googled royal couples according to Brits

Research reveals which royal figures and their royal weddings are the most searchable by Brits ahead of King Charles’ 74th birthday

• King Charles III is the most Googled royal with 715,000 searches across the UK every month for the reigning monarch, with the second-most Googled royal wedding – his second wedding to the now Queen, Camilla Parker Bowles

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are the most Googled royal couple, with more than 1.2 million monthly searches by curious Brits

• Princess Margaret’s wedding is the most Googled of all the royal weddings, with more monthly searches than both Princess Diana and her sister, Queen Elizabeth II

The UK’s royal weddings are considered to be some of the most extravagant in the world, with many still talked about years after the big day.

To celebrate the 74th birthday of King Charles III, wedding experts at leading free wedding planning website Hitched.co.uk have taken a look back at the iconic weddings that the royal family have thrown in the last 100 years, to see which are still at the front of mind for Brits.

By looking at the number of Google searches for each royal, as well as each royal’s wedding, the wedding experts can reveal that while Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are the most Googled royal couple, the most searched for royal wedding in 2023 belongs to Princess Margaret.

Most Googled Royals

Independently, the birthday boy, King Charles III is the most Googled royal in the list, with over half a million searches for ‘King Charles’ and another 165,000 for his official title of ‘King Charles III’. Combined with the search volumes for wife, Queen Camilla (and ‘Camilla Parker Bowles’) and their historic 2005 wedding, the royal couple see a whopping 822,790 Google searches every month across the UK.

Despite this, the reigning monarchs are still second in line to the throne when it comes to popularity, with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle crowned the UK’s most Googled royal couple in 2023.

The couple, who wed at Windsor Castle on May 19th, 2018 have a combined Google search volume of 1,226,500 every month, compared to the 822,790 monthly searches for King Charles and Queen Camilla, and 503,930 monthly searches for Prince William and Kate Middleton, the now Princess of Wales.

However, the second wedding of King Charles III and Queen Camilla – then known as Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles – is one Brits are still interested in Googling nearly 20 years later, which Zoe Burke, leading wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk attributes to its unconventionality.

Zoe Burke, leading wedding expert and editor of Hitched.co.uk says: “It’s no surprise to see how obsessed Brits are with the royals, with so many hundreds of thousands of monthly searches, and it makes sense that royal weddings make up a big part of that interest. A royal wedding gives us a chance to see a day in the life of a royal. A pretty exceptional day, granted, but it’s more of a look-in than we typically get. 

“Royal weddings are instrumental in setting trends – both Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle’s modern wedding dress choices are still echoing through bridal designs today, and we’re still seeing hints of Princess Diana’s iconic 80s wedding dress in puff sleeves and trailing trains – so everyone is eager to see the fashion, the guests and to hear the rumours about the parties!

“Some might say that King Charles and Queen Camilla’s wedding was the most unconventional royal wedding in our lifetimes – but it’s clearly paid off for them, and Brits still want to know all about it, judging by the search demand!”

The reigning royal couple married in a civil wedding ceremony at Windsor Guildhall on 9th April, 2005, followed by a religious blessing. For the ceremony, Camilla wore a cream silk dress paired with a matching coat. She paired her royal wedding outfit with L.K. Bennett shoes, and a straw hat with ivory French lace and feathers, by royal milliner Philip Treacy. She went on to re-wear the dress and coat for a later royal engagement, with different accessories.

King Charles’ first marriage with Princess Diana takes fourth place in the list of the most Googled royal couples, with a combined monthly search volume of 247,790 for the troubled couple, while in fifth place are Prince Andrew and Sarah (Fergie) Ferguson, with more than 240,000 searches by curious Brits made every month.

Most Googled Royal Weddings

With a whopping 201,000 Google searches this October for Queen Elizabeth II’s younger sister, and just under 3,000 searches for her wedding, Princess Margaret is the sixth most Googled royal, but with the most Googled wedding in 2023.

Princess Margaret married photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones on 6th May, 1960 at Westminster Abbey, in the first ever televised royal wedding. She chose royal designer Norman Hartnell to create her bridal gown, the same designer who had designed Queen Elizabeth II’s royal wedding dress over a decade earlier.

Margaret’s choice of wedding dress was considered unusual at the time, due to its simplicity. In contrast with her sister, she had a small train and zero embellishment or embroidery – it was a modern take on bridal fashion for the time, and Life magazine described it as ‘the simplest royal wedding gown in history’.

Following Princess Margaret, the second most Googled royal weddings belong to Princess Diana, Princess Anne, and Princess Beatrice, each with 2,400 monthly searches for details of their royal weddings.

While one of the least-Googled couples, Princess Beatrice’s 2020 wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was also one for the history books due to the pandemic. The couple wed in a micro wedding on July 17th in front of just 20 guests, and the princess made the boldest style statement ever by a royal bride in choosing to wear a borrowed Norman Hartnell gown that had belonged to Queen Elizabeth II.

The vintage dress was modified by Angela Kelly and Stewart Parvin, both trusted designers to the Queen, and was trimmed with duchess satin and encrusted with diamante.

Featured Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash.