Most Britons Interested in Royal Wedding, But Prefer Low Key Affair
Nearly half of respondents say they would like Prince William to become King after Queen Elizabeth II.
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(11/30/10) -
While a large proportion of Britons are interested in the upcoming wedding of Prince William, only one-in-four would consent to Parliament providing additional funding for the event, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
The online survey of a representative sample of 2,011 British adults also shows that Prince William has surpassed his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, as the most popular member of the Royal Family.
The Monarchy
More than half of respondents (55%) are in favour of the United Kingdom remaining a monarchy, while 14 per cent would prefer to have an elected head of state, and 23 per cent do not care about the issue either way.
Four-in-five respondents (81%) have a favourable opinion of Prince William, and three-in-four (75%) feel the same way about the current monarch.
Prince Harry is next on the list of royals with 72 per cent, followed by Kate Middleton with 67 per cent. Less than half of respondents hold favourable views on Prince Philip (47%) and Prince Charles, while half of Britons (50%) voice unfavourable views on Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (formerly Parker-Bowles).
Almost half of respondents (48%) say they would prefer to have Prince William as monarch after Queen Elizabeth II dies or abdicates, while 33 per cent would rather have Prince Charles—who is first in line to ascend the throne—as King. Only 13 per cent of Britons think there should be no monarch after the current one.
The Wedding
Two-thirds of Britons (64%) admit to having an interest in the British Royal Family, and three-in-five (59%) feel the same way about the impending Royal Wedding. These sentiments are highest among women and respondents over the age of 55.
In a survey conducted earlier this month, only 14 per cent of respondents rated the economic conditions in the UK as “very good” or “good.” At this point, only one-in-four respondents (25%) would approve of Parliament voting to give the Royal Family extra funding for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. In fact, almost half of respondents (46%) believe that, given the difficult time the national economy is having, the ceremony should be relatively low key.
Download Full Methodology Statement
Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)
CONTACT:
Mario Canseco, Vice President, Communications & Media Relations
+877 730 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com
Methodology: From November 23 to November 24, 2010, Angus Reid Public Opinion conducted an online survey among 2,011 randomly selected British adults who are Springboard UK panelists. The margin of error—which measures sampling variability—is +/- 2.2%. The results have been statistically weighted according to the most current education, age, gender and region data to ensure samples representative of the entire adult population of Great Britain. Discrepancies in or between totals are due to rounding.
