A new opinion poll shows an overwhelming majority want the royals to pay for a proposed new statue of the late Queen.
 
The St James's Park statue is set to cost the government as much as £46m.
 
75% of respondents, when asked which of the following should pay the cost of the statue, said the royal family. Just 14% said the taxpayer should foot the bill.
 
The poll, conducted by Savanta over the weekend, shows a big majority in all age groups and demographics want the royals to pay.
 
The poll was commissioned by Republic.
 
Republic's CEO, Graham Smith, said today:
 
"On this we're in the majority, overwhelmingly the British public want the royals to pay for their own statue."
 
"This is another poll that shows true royalists are in a small minority, with just 14% thinking the country should pay for this statue."
 
"This result is hardly surprising. We spend over half a billion pounds on the monarchy every year, we allow them to avoid paying taxes and we pay Charles and William personal incomes of more than £23m each."
 
"Yet when they want a statue to the queen they expect the taxpayer to pay. This has to stop. They can pay for their own statue."
 
"There is no public demand for this statue, support for the monarchy has fallen sharply and interest in it is low. There is absolutely no public benefit to this at all."
 
"And clearly the public do not want taxpayers footing the bill for a pointless statue, at a time when public services are at breaking point."
 
Details of the poll are available on the Republic website.
 
Methodology: Savanta interviewed 2,170 UK adults aged 18+ online between 13th and 16th December 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade. 
 
Savanta and YouGov polls have shown those who prefer a monarchy over a republic to be below 55% during 2024, and below 50% in January. See related press releases here. 
 
A YouGov poll in early 2023 showed only 9% were excited about the coronation. This was carried in various news media, including here.