Six in ten Britons have positive view of the King, but William and Kate remain Britain's favourite royals
Having not had an easy 2024 so far, the royal family can take some comfort in the knowledge that their popularity with the British public remains solid, with King Charles still popular two years after acceding to the throne.
Six in ten Britons (63%) have a favourable opinion of Charles III, against only three in ten (29%) who hold a negative view of the reigning monarch. This gives the King an overall net favourability rating of +34, something many politicians would be deeply envious of.
More popular, though, are heir apparent Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales. They are Britain’s favourite royals, with three-quarters of Britons (74-75%) having a favourable view of the couple, and disliking the two a minority view (13-16%). Princess Anne is the only other royal to maintain a similarly high level of popularity, with seven in ten Britons (71%) looking upon the Princess Royal positively.
Where there should be some worry for the palace, however, is that the only part of the public where the King does not hold a double-digit positive favourability rating is among 18-24 year olds, among whom only a quarter (25%) have a positive opinion, compared to a majority (53%) who view their King negatively. William and Kate, though, have clearly net positive approval ratings among younger Britons (+20 and +23 respectively).
Opinion about Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh remains roughly where it was when YouGov first asked about them in May, with between around four in ten and half of Britons (38-52%) viewing them positively, but with a clear chunk of the public holding no view (37-41% saying ‘don’t know’ about them). Prince Edward sits in a similar ballpark, with Britons tending towards a positive view (53%), but many also unsure (28%).
More divisive is Camilla, the Queen Consort. While half of the British public (49%) have a positive view of the once controversial figure, four in ten (38%) still see her in a negative light.
Nonetheless, there is clear water between Camilla and the unpopular members of the family. Just three in ten Britons (30%) have a positive view of Prince Harry and less than a quarter (23%) of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, against majorities of the public who have unfavourable opinions of the two (60% for Harry and 63% for Megan).
But least popular of all remains Prince Andrew, with just 5% of the British public viewing him positively, the lowest we have ever recorded for him. An overwhelming 87% of Britons say they have a negative opinion of the disgraced royal.
Arguably most notable about the royal favourability ratings, though, is how stable they are. In an era when government disapproval has shifted by 20 points in just one month, it is striking how little variation there has been in the popularity of senior royals in the two years since Charles III became King.
Other than some shifts in late 2022, most notably a massive decline in positivity and increase in negativity towards Prince Harry, there are no royals who are viewed substantively differently today to the day the King acceded to the throne.
How do Britons feel about the wider monarchy?
Beyond the individual royals, the British public are still clear in their support of the royalty – six in ten Britons having a positive view of both the family as a whole (63%) and the underlying institution of the monarchy (59%). This is roughly double the number of Britons holding the opposing views, with three in ten (30%) holding a negative opinion of the ruling family and 32% sceptical of the monarchy.
A similar split is true when thinking about the constitutional future of the royal family. Two-thirds of the British public (65%) believe we should continue to have a monarchy, while a quarter (25%) would favour an elected head of state instead. However, there has been a clear fall in how solidly Britons’ hold these attitudes, with only two-thirds (67%) saying they feel strongly about whether we should or should not keep the monarchy, down from 77% in May.
This idea that Britain should remain a monarchy is fairly broad, being held by 94% of Conservative voters, 81% of Reform UK voters, as well as clear majorities of Lib Dem (60%) and Labour (55%) voters. The only parts of the public that are the exceptions are in Scotland, which evenly splits 41% in a favour of a monarchy and 43% in favour of an elected head of state, and 18-24 year olds, only a third of whom (35%) want to maintain a monarchy going forwards.
What do you think of the royals, the future of the monarchy, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
