MORE than half of Brits think the country should continue to have a monarchy, a new poll reveals today.
As the crisis caused by the Harry and Meghan Netflix documentary threatens to deepen, a survey of 1,151 Brits by People’s Polling for GB News saw:
*53 per cent say they think Britain should continue to have a monarchy.
*This figure rose to 79% among pensioners, 83% among Conservatives and 72% among Brexit voters.
*In comparison only one in five favour moving to an elected head of state, although this figure jumps to 40% of Scots, 40% of Labour voters and 27% of 18-24-year-olds.
A survey by People’s Polling in September saw 63% say we continue to have a monarchy, indicating support has fallen.
Commenting on the findings of the poll, Professor Matt Goodwin said: “These numbers point to the looming challenge for King Charles III and Prince William. Overall, just over half favour keeping the monarchy while a hardly insignificant 20% favour having an elected head of state, including a plurality of Labour voters, Scots, and large numbers of young Zoomers. Fending off this challenge to the monarchy in the years and decades ahead will no doubt be his priority and one that will only become more pressing in our political debates.”
The poll comes as the second part of Harry and Meghan aired on Netflix.
Their melodrama reached a crescendo as they launched more salvoes at the Royal Family over Megxit and claims William, Kate and Charles were jealous of their popularity and hated them ‘stealing the limelight’.
The couple said they were ‘better’ at royal duties than others and that stuck in the craw of Harry’s family, who didn’t Meghan being treated like a ‘royal rock star’ after they married in 2018.
Experts say the final three episodes of the docu-series will likely infuriate and upset William, who was accused of leaving his younger brother ‘terrified’ after allegedly yelling at him in front of the Queen and Charles during final Megxit talks at Sandringham in 2020. The Sussexes said they were ‘blocked’ from seeing the Queen alone to discuss Megxit.
The Duke of Sussex also drew more comparisons between his wife and his mother, claiming Princess Diana was forced out for the same reason because she outshone those who were ‘born to do this’, like his father and brother.
The first three episodes of the documentary racked up more viewing time on the streaming service than any other documentary during its first week, Netflix said earlier this week.
The first three episodes of Harry & Meghan recorded 81.55m viewing hours around the world after its debut earlier this month.
The couple have been paid somewhere between $100m and $150m by Netflix to deliver scripted series, documentaries and children’s programming over several years.
They have hit back at criticism over their sharing of personal video clips and photographs in the documentary, with a spokesperson for the couple saying privacy was not a key reason behind the couple stepping back from royal duties and leaving the UK.