A YouGov poll published today shows the public's love affair with the Royal Family is at an end.  The results give a clear picture of widespread disinterest in the Royals and a lack of enthusiasm for Saturday's royal wedding.

The poll also raises real concerns for Prince Charles as he prepares to be King.

Key findings include:

  • 66% are not interested in the Harry and Meghan wedding
  • Most will have a normal weekend (60%) or will be working on Saturday (10%) 
  • 57% believe the Royals should pay the full cost of the wedding, including the cost of policing and security
  • Asked if, given the choice, they would want to contribute their own taxes to the wedding, 76% said no.

In a unique experiment campaign group Republic, who commissioned YouGov to carry out the poll, crowd-funded the exercise and crowd-sourced the questions, with almost 2000 people getting involved.

The poll also shows lukewarm attitudes to the Queen and Prince Charles.

As expected a clear majority (60%) say they like the Queen, but only a third said they like her 'a great deal'.

Meanwhile 46% would prefer 'someone else' to succeed the Queen while only 37% want Charles.

Should the monarchy come to an end after the Queen's reign only a third would be 'very disappointed' while as many as 24% wouldn't mind.

The meddling of Prince Charles is a real problem for the royals.  Support for the monarchy could fall by as much as 38% if a future King Charles was known to be influencing government policy.

Responding to the findings, Republic's Graham Smith said today:

"This YouGov poll shows a very clear picture of a nation disinterested and apathetic about the Royal Family."

"We're not a nation of republicans yet - but we've stopped being a nation of royalists. Seven years of major royal events has left the British people deeply unimpressed." 

"A country in love with the royals wouldn't mind paying for the wedding, a nation of royalists would be keenly following the wedding coverage, and people who love the Queen would say so unequivocally."

"We're constantly being told that the nation loves the Queen and the Royal Family - clearly that's not true."

"We're told this weekend's wedding is a national celebration.  Clearly that's not true."

"And we're told the monarchy's future is secure.  This poll suggests that is in doubt."

"The royals are running out of fresh ideas and big PR opportunities - now the real debate about this rotten institution must begin."

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1,615 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 10th - 11th May 2018.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

The full results can be found on the YouGov website or you can see a pdf of the results at www.republic.org.uk/republic_yougov_poll_results
 

NOTES

Republic will be hosting the International Republican Convention this Saturday, the day of the royal wedding.

Speakers include Tommy Sheppard MP, Emma Dent Coad MP, Jenny Hocking from Australia, representatives from European republican movements and Republic's Graham Smith.

The event is open to journalists.

Doors open at 1pm for a 1:30 start.  The convention will be held at:

St Bride Foundation

14 Bride Lane

London EC4Y 8EQ

(near Blackfriar's station)