British men more excited by Star Wars than Royal Wedding – well of course!
An estimated 21 million may be due to tune in this weekend to watch Prince Harry marry Meghan Markle, with the world’s attention well and truly glued to Windsor Castle.
However, it appears not everyone is feeling the excitement, at least according to recent research which suggests British men are more excited about heading to the cinema to see Alden Ehrenreich take his seat in the Millennium Falcon than the royal couple tie the knot.
The survey, conducted by hotel group Best Western Great Britain, asked 2,000 UK adults to choose the event they are most excited about this summer, with options ranging from Wimbledon to the return of the Great British Bake Off.
Overall, respondents listed the royal wedding as the second most anticipated happening of the season, beaten only by the FIFA World Cup.
However, this interest appears to lie predominantly within one gender. While more than one in seven (15%) women said the wedding was the thing they were most excited about this summer, just 2% of men felt the same way.
Perhaps not surprisingly the World Cup was the cause of most enthusiasm amongst UK males, with over a quarter (26%) saying the tournament was the thing they were most looking forward to.
Major sporting occasions, such as the FA Cup Final and British Grand Prix (both 6%) were both listed highly, but noticeably so was the release of the new Star Wars film, due to reach cinemas at the end of May. Double the amount of men said they were most excited about Solo: A Star Wars Story (4%) than those who chose the royal wedding (2%).
Perhaps more surprisingly, however, was the considerable number of events which ranked higher than the wedding. The top ten events British men and women are most looking forward to this summer are:
| British Men | British Women | ||
| 1 | FIFA World Cup – 26% | 1 | Royal wedding – 15% |
| 2 | F.A. Cup Final – 6% | 2 | Wimbledon – 10% |
| = | British Grand Prix – 6% | 3 | Return of the Great British Bake Off – 7% |
| 4 | Wimbledon – 5% | = | FIFA World Cup – 7% |
| = | Cricket season – 5% | 5 | Handmaid’s Tale season two – 5% |
| 6 | Tour de France – 4% | 6 | Return of Love Island – 4% |
| = | Solo: A Star Wars Story film release – 4% | = | Incredibles 2 film release – 4% |
| 8 | Ryder Cup – 3% | 8 | Festival season – 3% |
| 9 | Royal wedding – 2% | = | British Grand Prix – 3% |
| = | Edinburgh festival – 2% | = | F.A. Cup Final – 3% |
Regionally, interest in the royal wedding also fluctuated, with only one in twenty (5%) Scots saying they were most excited about the event.
Those in the East Midlands appear to be the biggest royal supporters, with 13% of inhabitants listing the marriage as their number one summer event.
Says Andrew Denton, Director of Communications at Best Western GB:
“The royal wedding is generating worldwide attention, but it’s interesting to see that closer to home some are still choosing Han over Harry.
To find your royal retreat, head to the Best Western website: https://www.bestwestern.co.uk/
