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Pollwatch: 50% say Royal Family have a poor understanding of what life is like for UK citizens

Chris Hopkins Political Research Director 07/06/2022

Half (49%) of UK adults say that the Royal Family have a poor understanding of what life is like for people in the UK, according to a new poll from Savanta ComRes.

Two in five (42%), however, say the opposite and that the Royal Family have a good understanding of what life is like for the average Briton in 2022.

When the time does come for the UK to have a new head of state, half (48%) say that it should be Prince William, compared to a third (36%) who say it should be Prince Charles.

The poll, released as the country celebrates a four-day weekend to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, also finds that a quarter (26%) of Brits say that she should abdicate as Monarch before she dies, while a majority (60%) say she should carry on as Monarch until she dies.

And when the time does come for the UK to have a new head of state, half (48%) say that it should be Prince William, compared to a third (36%) who say it should be Prince Charles.

Half (49%) of UK adults say that they will be celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in some way. Of those, 42% say they will be watching the official celebrations on television, 37% say they’ll attend a street party in their neighbourhood, and one in five (21%) will be taking advantage of the extended opening hours afforded to pubs.

One in eight (12%) will be using the four-day weekend as a chance to go on holiday.

The poll also finds a majority (57%) in favour of Britain retaining a Monarchy, compared to three in ten (29%) who favour Britain having an elected head of state.

And when it comes to the favourability of members of the Royal Family, three quarters (72%) have a favourable opinion of the Queen, two thirds (66%) have a favourable opinion of Prince William, and three in five (61%) have a favourable opinion of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.

However, less than half (44%) have a favourable opinion of Prince Charles, while the scores are considerably lower for Prince Harry (34%) and his wife, Meghan Markle (24%).

Commenting on the findings, Chris Hopkins, Political Research Director at Savanta ComRes says,

“Ahead of the Jubilee Weekend, it’s good to see around half of Brits looking to take advantage of the celebrations in some way, with significant proportions likely to watch some of the coverage, have a street party or take advantage of extended pub opening times.”

“However, there is a wider sense in this poll that the public feel the Royal Family are somewhat out of touch, with half saying they have a poor understanding of what life is like for people in the UK, more saying the next head of state should skip Prince Charles in the lineage, and a not insignificant 29% favouring an elected head of state.”

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