Poll: Dramatic decline in support for monarchy in decade since Diamond Jubilee
ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship on the fall in support of the monarch since the Diamond Jubilee
There has been a dramatic decline in support for the monarchy in the decade since the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, new research has shown.
Polling ahead of the celebrations for the country’s first-ever Platinum Jubilee shows fewer people support the monarchy and, among young people, an equal number support replacing the Monarch with an elected head of state.
In 2012, when the Queen marked 60 years of reign, 73% of Britons said they support the monarchy.
In 2022, the same polling company reports that support for the monarchy has dropped by 11 points to 62%.
One in five of those questioned (22%) want Britain to become a republic, and have a head of state like a president.
The findings have been released by the polling company YouGov, which interviewed 1,600 adults last month.
Across all ages and demographics, support for the monarchy is higher than support for a republic – but among younger Brits the margins are very narrow.
The opinion poll found that an equal number of people in the 18-24 age group – want the UK to become a republic as those who want to keep a Queen or King.
33% of young people said they wish to keep the current constitutional make-up versus 31% who said they want an elected head of state.
That is a dramatic fall from ten years ago, when six in ten 18-24 year olds (59%) were in favour of monarchy.
A lot has happened with the Royal Family since the Diamond Jubilee – a time when the country was also hosting the Olympic Games and a year after Prince William and Kate had been married.
In the last decade, the institution has been rocked by Harry and Meghan’s dramatic departure in 2020 and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah Winfrey interview in which they made claims of racism and a lack of support for mental health.
Prince Andrew has been forced to step back from royal duties and had all his military positions stripped from him following his legal fight in the US in which he was accused of, and vehemently denied, sexual assault.
Brothers William and Harry have had a very public falling out and now barely speak to one another.
At a time when the eyes of the world are turning to Britain for the national celebration, the YouGov poll found fewer people think the monarchy is a good thing for the country.
Just over half of those asked in 2022 said monarchy was good for Britain (56%) but that is much fewer than 2012, when three-quarters (73%) thought the same thing.