Two thirds of Britons want the UK to continue to have a monarchy
With a new book making “explosive” claims about Prince Andrew, including that he knew Jeffrey Epstein for a decade longer than he has previously claimed, that compromising material on the Duke of York may be possessed by foreign intelligence services, and that he was given a bloody nose during an altercation with Prince Harry, the latest YouGov royal favourability tracker finds Andrew at the bottom of the table once again.
Just 5% have a favourable view of the King’s brother, a figure that has changed little in the years since Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019. Fully 87% of Britons have a negative view of the Duke of York.
Prince William once again tops the royal league table, with 74% of Britons having a positive opinion of the first in line to the throne. Wife Catherine is similarly popular, at 71%, with Princess Anne also coming in at 70%.
King Charles III continues to hold majority support, at 59%, a figure unsurprisingly similar to the 62% who say he is doing a good job.
By contrast, Prince Harry and wife Meghan continue to be disliked by much of the public. Only 28% have a positive opinion of the Duke of Sussex, with fewer still saying the same of the Duchess (20%).
Across the board, these results are little different from our previous survey in May, although Meghan Markle’s figure does remain the joint-lowest on record.
Older Britons generally have more positive views of the royals – except for Prince Harry and Meghan
It remains the case that positivity towards royal figures increases with age, with for example King Charles liked by only 30% of 18-24 year olds but 77% of the over-65s.
The exceptions are Prince Andrew (who is widely disliked by all age groups) and Harry and Meghan, who are looked upon more favourably by young Britons than their elders (although they are still net unpopular across all generations). Only 17% of over-65s have a positive view of Prince Harry, compared to 33% of 18-24 year olds, and just 10% of the oldest Britons feel favourably towards Meghan, compared to 25% of their youngest counterparts.
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 have a positive view of both the family as a whole (62%) and the underlying institution of the monarchy (58%). 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 (23%) would favour an elected head of state instead.
This idea that Britain should remain a monarchy is fairly broad, being held by 89% of Conservative voters, 76% of Reform UK voters, as well as clear majorities of Lib Dem (67%) and Labour (57%) voters – although only 39% of Greens. Green voting at the last election correlated strongly with being young, and indeed only 41% of 18-24 year olds want to retain the monarchy, effectively tied with the number who want a republic (42%).
These youngest Britons are only half as likely as the oldest generation to say they support having a monarchy (81% of the over-65s).
Looking more broadly, 59% of Britons say the monarchy is good for Britain, 54% see the royal family are good value for money, and 47% say that they are proud of the monarchy – only 17% say they are embarrassed by it.
Again, attitudes are less positive among the youngest generation, of whom only 36% think the monarchy is good for the country, and just 27% say they are proud of it – tied with the 28% who find it embarrassing.
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Photo: Getty
