Roxanne Pallett and The Duchess of Sussex were the "top trending" people in the UK in 2018, Google has announced.

The technology company's Year In Search project compared the UK public's search habits this year to that in 2017 and compiled lists of the people and subjects that saw the biggest relative increases in interest.

While Meghan's name was top of the chart for individuals, "royal wedding" - a search that spiked during her wedding to Prince Harry - was also the top trending news event in the country.

Ms Pallett made headlines in September after claiming fellow Celebrity Big Brother contestant Ryan Thomas had hurt her by punching her, in an exchange which many viewers defended as play fighting.

After quitting the show, she said she felt she was "the most hated girl in Britain".

The top trending search query overall in the UK was the World Cup, in a year in which the England football team reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

The film Black Panther and video game Fortnite also made the top 10 queries, having both enjoyed runaway success in 2018.

Singer Demi Lovato was third on the list of people after reportedly suffering an overdose in the summer, while TV presenter Ant McPartlin came in fourth after a year which saw him divorce his wife, enter rehab for drug addiction and gain a conviction for drink driving.

Other notable entries in this year's diverse list include GDPR, the new European data protection legislation introduced in May, and reality star Khloe Kardashian, who gave birth to her first child in April.