Following an eventful stretch of time in U.K. politics and society, Brits show strong feelings about the role of the monarchy. Nearly three in four (72%) say the British monarchy should not be abolished, while 25% say it should according to a new SurveyMonkey poll conducted from October 26-29 among 2,100 U.K. residents.
A generational divide in views of the royals
Younger adults feel the most antipathy towards the firm: 35% of young adults under age 35 say the monarchy should be abolished, compared with 23% of those ages 35-64 and 17% of those 65 and older.
King Charles III begins his reign with high favourability, as 73% of Brits hold a very or somewhat favourable opinion of the new king. However, his favourability ratings are surpassed by those of Prince William (83%), Kate (84%), and Princess Anne (78%). Camilla’s favourability is lower (58%), alongside Prince Harry (50%) and Meghan (37%).
Among young adults, many of these favourability ratings are upended. Kate (78%) and Prince William (77%) have the highest favourability ratings among Brits age 18-34, followed by Harry (68%), Princess Anne (66%), King Charles III (61%), Meghan (58%), and Camilla (48%).
Despite this low favourability, 59% of Brits would support Prince Harry and Meghan moving back to the UK, with 77% of those 18-34, 57% of those 35-64, and 40% of those 65+ supporting such a move.
Opinions split on the role and responsibilities of the monarchy
It is very or somewhat important to 84% of Brits that the monarchy support good causes and charities, but other roles are more controversial, including acting as a tourist attraction to improve GDP (78%), aiding in international relations (74%), and getting involved in domestic policy (48%).
About a third of Brits agree that King Charles should pay inheritance tax (39%), should pay for his own coronation (35%), should publish his holdings and accounts (32%) and should have to publish his tax returns (32%).
“The Crown” returns
A third of Brits (30%) plan to watch season 5 of The Crown on Netflix, but just 5% say they consider the show to be an accurate representation of life in the monarchy. One third (33%) say the show is not an accurate representation, and a plurality (47%) think that “some elements are accurate.”
Brits are split evenly between those who think Netflix should (43%) and should not (44%) have postponed airing a new season of the show out of respect for the late Queen Elizabeth II.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
