Prince Charles, tree-hugging heir to the British throne, has topped the Google most wanted list for 2003, according to the search engine.

Our Charlie proved the most sought-after subject on the web after scurrilous allegations prompted a fact-starved UK public to scour the Net for tasty titbits.

This royal rumpus beat soap Eastenders into second spot and saw even rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson and David "Cojones de Oro" Beckham struggling to match his imperial majestyness' world-beating performance. The lads rated fourth and sixth places, respectively.

Third place went to Winnie the Pooh, a claim we find virtually impossible to believe. Apparently, it's got something to do with a merchandising brouhaha in the States, but the idea that a US legal punch-up would have Brits rushing to their computers is, frankly, absurd.

The rest of it is predictable enough. Heiress-come-pornatrix Paris Hilton and childcare guru Michael Jackson put in a respectable showing, and Easyjet™ will delight the masses with a no-frills fifth place:

1. Prince Charles
2. 
   
3. Eastenders
4. 
   
5. Winnie the Pooh
6. 
   
7. Jonny Wilkinson
8. 
   
9. Easyjet
10. 
    
11. David Beckham
12. 
    
13. Michael Jackson
14. 
    
15. 2 Fast 2 Furious
16. 
    
17. Paris Hilton
18. 
    
19. The Simpsons

Global net users, though, displayed rather more good taste during 2003, clicking highly talented all-American girl Britney Spears to the top of the search heirarchy. Our own Harry Potter can hold his head up high at No.2, with The Matrix running a close third:

1. Britney Spears
2. 
   
3. Harry Potter
4. 
   
5. Matrix
6. 
   
7. Shakira
8. 
   
9. David Beckham
10. 
    
11. 50 cent
12. 
    
13. Iraq
14. 
    
15. Lord of the Rings
16. 
    
17. Kobe Bryant
18. 
    
19. Tour de France

One thing conspicuous by its absence from both lists is Kazaa. Which is interesting because the file-sharing programme raced home to claim the Yahoo! title, published a week ago:

1. Kazaa
2. 
   
3. Harry Potter
4. 
   
5. American Idol
6. 
   
7. Britney Spears
8. 
   
9. 50 Cent
10. 
    
11. Eminem
12. 
    
13. WWE
14. 
    
15. Paris Hilton
16. 
    
17. Nascar
18. 
    
19. Christina Aguilera

You see - not a litigious bear in sight. ®

Bootnote

Google conspiracy theorists who can hear the distant drone of black helicopters hovering over the Kazaa anomaly are requested to direct their comments directly to the company. Please.