Top Alexa questions 2023: The things people asked most frequently in the UK this year revealed

“When is The King’s coronation?”, “How old is King Charles?” and “How many birthdays does The King have?” Those were among the things people in the UK asked Alexa most frequently in 2023, according to new figures. 

The royal theme emerged after the tech giant released new information about how people engaged with the virtual assistant over the past 12 months and comes days after Google revealed “When is the coronation?” was the most searched for ‘when’ question of the year via the internet firm’s search engine.

Elsewhere, people were keen to know Elon Musk’s net worth, as well as finding out information about hit films Barbie and Oppenheimer. The summer blockbusters were the subject of the top film-related questions, with Alexa users asking “When did Barbie come out?” and “How long is Oppenheimer?”.

Ed Sheeran was named as the most-played artist via Alexa, ahead of Taylor Swift, Lewis Capaldi and Elvis Presley, while Flowers by Miley Cyrus was the most-played song of the year, with the US singer’s Endless Summer Vacation also named as the most-played album, ahead of Harry’s House, by Harry Styles.

And people were able to enjoy the data in true British style as, to accompany the release, Amazon worked with Beano cartoonist Nigel Parkinson to create the first Alexa Annual, showing the various top search results in the style of a classic comic yearbook.

Meryem Tom, Alexa UK and Ireland country manager, said: “From the more meaningful to the mundane and the downright quirky, Alexa’s most asked questions provides another fascinating snapshot of how customers in the UK use Alexa to learn, get help with tasks or ask for some quickfire entertainment.”

Pop culture continued to dominate elsewhere in the figures, with interest in celebrities and sportspeople among the most popular requests. “How tall is Lionel Messi?” made the list, as well as people enquiring as to the age of Glastonbury headliner Elton John, and the finding out who Jennifer Lopez is married to.

In the kitchen - where many Alexas are installed in UK homes - Amazon revealed the most requested recipes from UK users, who performed in predictable fashion, with Yorkshire pudding coming top, along with pancakes, banana bread, chilli con carne and apple crumble. 

And showing a lazy instinct at celebrations, “Sing Happy Birthday” was named the most requested “personality song”, ahead of requests for Alexa to beatbox and sing a song about dogs.