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King Charles’s popularity among Britons has fallen from a high point in the immediate aftermath of his mother’s death nearly a year ago, new polling has revealed.
In a survey marking 12 months since the King acceded to the throne, the monarch’s net positivity rating is currently 28 per cent, the YouGov poll shows.
This is a fall from a net rating of 48 per cent in the days after the death of the Queen.
However, his current approval rating is around 10 percentage points higher than it was when he was Prince of Wales, showing he is still more popular as King. His mother enjoyed higher net ratings of up to 76 per cent.
One year into his reign, 60 per cent of Britons have a favourable view of the King, compared to 32 per cent who have a negative view.
Public attitudes towards the existence of the monarchy have barely shifted over the past year, according to the YouGov poll. After a bounce to 67 per cent in the immediate aftermath of Queen Elizabeth’s death, support for the monarchy has remained around 61 per cent, while just 24 per cent are in favour of an elected head of state.
Matt Smith, head of data journalism at YouGov, said: “The public in general continue to broadly support the monarchy and members of the Royal Family – with well-known exceptions.”
He added: “While the King may not be as popular as his late mother, this is unlikely to make much difference – the monarchy continues to be as popular under him as it was in the late years of Elizabeth II, and with next in line to the throne Prince William being more popular still (including among the youngest Britons) it seems unlikely that there will be a serious challenge to the monarchy for some years to come.”
But Mr Smith said the survey did reveal that age seemed to play a big role in people’s views of the institution.
He said: “The most notable aspect of public opinion regarding the Royal Family is the very different attitudes between generations, with the young having become much more negative towards the institution and its members in recent years, prompted it seems by the treatment of Prince Harry and wife Meghan. Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview may also have played a role.”
For its latest survey, YouGov polled 2,020 British adults between 26 and 28 August.