The reasons behind Meghan Markle’s “summer of love” PR blitz have been laid bare by a royal commentator after the Duchess of Sussex topped a poll of the most disliked celebrities of 2024. Meghan’s ranking comes after a highly-placed source to the Daily Express revealed the royal is ready to launch a charm offensive to win fans for her new project, American Riviera Orchard.

The Duchess of Sussex was placed number one on Ranker.com’s list of this year’s “most disliked” celebrities, garnering 27,746 votes compared with second place Prince Harry, who has to date received 24,367.

Royal expert Kinsey Schofield, sharing her analysis in YouTube podcast Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered, said: “Most royalists view American actress Meghan Markle as the disruptive influence on the British royals.

“She’s been criticised for not adhering to royal protocols and traditions, which some view as disrespectful to the monarchy.”

Meghan Markle has topped a survey of the most disliked celebrities of 2024 (Image: Getty)

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Ms Schofield pointed to critics who she said describe Meghan as “inauthentic” and “self-serving”, seeing her actions and statements as “attention-seeking” or “self-promotion”.

The US based presenter said Meghan has maintained her position at the top of Ranker’s list and this “likely influenced” her “Summer of Love” PR push.

Ms Schofield pointed to Harry’s calls for privacy while exposing private details about himself and members of the Royal Family in his memoir as well as support for green projects but taking private flights as possible reasons behind the Duke’s unpopularity.

Ranker’s popularity survey compares with pollster YouGov’s where philanthropist Meghan is listed in 13th place at the time of writing, with 26 percent of those polled viewing her favourably.