King Charles, Prince William’s Crisis Deepens

King Charles III’s monarchy has the support of less than half of Britain in a historic low creating major pressure on the sovereign and Prince William.

A poll by agency Savanta on behalf of the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic showed levels of support for an elected head of state that are unprecedented in modern times.

Just 48 percent of adults in the United Kingdom said they would prefer to be a monarchy compared to 32 percent who wanted to scrap the crown and 20 percent who answered “don’t know.” The data was based on a representative sample of over 2,200 U.K. adults.

Historically, similar questions generally returned upwards of 70 percent in favor of the royals for much of the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. However, this started to change several years ago against the backdrop of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s allegations against the royal family.

The scandal over Prince Andrew’s association with Jeffrey Epstein played out over the same time period and has been back in the news in recent days with the unsealing of court documents.

Historian Ed Owens, author of After Elizabeth: Can the Monarchy Save Itself, told Newsweek: “I think it’s striking. It’s a poll that’s been commissioned by Republic, which is clearly interested in revealing declining support for monarchy, but nevertheless, to see that 50 percent of the British public now outwardly claim to want a monarchy is a remarkable shift in opinion.

“As Republic notes, this is a significant drop over ten years. A more than 25 percent drop over the last decade,” Owens said. “It speaks to many of the deeper concerns the public has over the state of the country, the state of the monarchy, recent scandals involving Prince Andrew, and, of course, Harry and Meghan, as well.

“I think we can explain this downward trend in relation to those big events, the wider family scandal, and the dysfunction of the family, but I would also emphasize that this is a historic downward curve as well.”

In 2021, public discussion about declining support for the monarchy among 18-24-year-olds peaked in the aftermath of Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah Winfrey.

However, support among the older generations was so high that the decline had little impact on the overall data for all age groups.

Harry and Meghan also crashed hard in U.K. opinion polling, creating the impression of a victory for the palace.

Yet, as years have since passed, the trend only appears to have grown, and one of the most striking aspects of the Savanta poll is that it appears to suggest the disillusionment is spreading to older generations all the way up to age 54.

Among Gen Z, 35 percent wanted the monarchy compared to 35 percent for an elected head of state, while among 25 to 34-year-olds, 30 percent wanted to keep the royals, and 44 percent wanted to abolish them.

Among 35 to 44-year-olds, 34 percent wanted to keep the king, and 40 percent wanted to vote for Britain’s head of state.

Signs of discontent were also visible among 45 to 54-year-olds, though they still came out in favor of the crown, with 47 percent wanting the monarchy and 32 percent a republic.

“We have witnessed declining support for monarchy,” Owens said. “This is partly to do with the greater visibility of Republic but also this growing disaffection to which I’ve referred on lots of occasions among younger people. But it stretches upwards as well to Millennials, so that’s under 45s.

“The new poll suggests that even the under 55s are losing confidence in the institution. So that is remarkable but not necessarily surprising when you look at the internal dysfunction but also the external context.

“We can’t discount the significance of a deeper disenchantment with the state of the country not necessarily simply with government but with the way the country works and I think the monarchy acts as a kind of lightning rod for people’s frustration, this deeper sense of unhappiness about the status quo.”

While the trend in relation to young people is now very well established in multiple rounds of polling spanning some three years, this is the first survey to indicate dissatisfaction reaching so far through the age range.

There are outliers in polling, and some people’s views may also be tied closely to the current round of stories about Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein.

However, if this trend is repeated in further polls throughout the year, then it will represent a major crisis for King Charles and Prince William less than a year after the coronation.

While Charles, as king, is the head of the institution, William would likely have a significant role to play in any fightback since he has more freedom to stray into politics than his father, who, as head of state, must be fastidious in relation to royal rules and protocol.

Graham Smith, chief executive of Republic, said in a statement: “This is huge. Royalists have spent years saying the monarchy has the support of the country. That’s clearly no longer the case.

“The monarchy is suffering a calamitous loss of support, yet one in five aren’t yet sure about the alternative. We desperately need a better informed, more robust and higher profile debate about what it means to abolish the monarchy.”

“Andrew has clearly done significant damage to the monarchy, but Charles is the one responsible,” he continued. “He has been behind decisions on how to mis-manage the scandal, and how to respond to Harry and Meghan. This is the result.

“The monarchy is on borrowed time. Britain will be a republic.”

Jack Royston is Newsweek’s chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek’s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you.