Royal pecking order: YouGov poll reveals our favourite members of The Firm
Slightly more than half of Australians approve of Charles just days from his coronation, but his subjects down under are less keen on his Queen.
Slightly more than half of Australians approve of King Charles just days out from his coronation, where republican Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will swear allegiance to him, but the King’s subjects down under are less keen on his Queen.
More than 25 years since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, a long, concerted campaign by the King has struggled to get the Australian public to accept his mistress-turned-wife, Queen Camilla.
New YouGov polling shows just 35 per cent of Australians approve of the new Queen. She rates even lower here than the royal-turned-author of a bestselling audio book, Prince Harry.
The new research shows support for the next generation of royals is much stronger than that of King Charles. His approval rating has increased by nine points since 2021 but just 52 per cent of those surveyed last month indicated their support.
Prince William and Princess Catherine remain the most popular royals in Australia, with Princess Anne coming in second and ahead of the King.
Camilla, Prince Harry, his wife Meghan Markle, and Prince Andrew all have Australian approval ratings below 50 per cent.
The data on the King’s own popularity should allay concerns from Buckingham Palace – expressed by the King himself at the Australian High Commission – that the monarch may not be “welcome” in Australia.
On Wednesday, the King met Anthony Albanese and the Prime Minister used the occasion to extend an invitation for the King and members of the royal family to visit Australia.
Earlier in the day Mr Albanese had sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Sky News Australia host Piers Morgan at the Australian High Commissioner’s residence, Stoke Lodge in central London, revealing he would say the oath of allegiance to the King during the coronation service.
“I think you can be a lifelong republican, which I am and still respect our institutions and certainly I have a great deal of respect for King Charles,” Mr Albanese said, adding, “And it‘s a great honour to be here representing Australia; all Australians wish King Charles well, regardless of the different views that people have about our constitutional arrangements.”
Official research into the royals’ standing in Australia last took place in March 2021. Since then we’ve lost both the Queen and “her strength and her stay”, the late Prince Philip. And gained some more, in Princess Lilibet of Sussex, while the King’s nieces – Princess Eugenie and Beatrice – have both had children.
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We’ve also been privy to a tell-all memoir and a Netflix series about the inner machinations of the royal family.
Camilla, who is in positive territory in most British polls now, has been the focus of a fresh push by the King’s courtiers to improve her image around the Commonwealth after first coming to prominence as the horse-loving, country-born mistress of the future King back in the 1990s.
The pair married in 2005 in a private civil ceremony. A final request of the late sovereign was that divorcee Camilla be crowned Queen alongside her son.
In the past month official social media channels from the Palace have been peppered with Instagram posts and tweets about the King’s second wife, informing the millions of followers about her childhood, her passions and how she uses ballet to keep fit.
Camilla, 75, has stood by her husband who thanked his “darling wife” for her years of support during his first speech to the nation last year.
“I know she (Camilla) will bring to the demands of her new role the steadfast devotion to duty on which I have come to rely so much,“ he said the day after his mother‘s death.
However the new Princess of Wales is the family’s crown jewel.
Catherine is the equal most popular member of The Firm according to the fresh data. She improved her “positive” perception in Australia by two points in two years, while her husband, Prince William, slipped by three. Seventy-six per cent of Australians now approve of the new Prince and Princess of Wales
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, while still more popular than the King and Queen, are in negative territory. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle “fared poorly”.
The couple, who resigned from their posts as senior royals in 2020, now live and work in the US. When they are not enjoying their privacy, they are busy appearing on late-night talk shows, making podcasts and recording filmed messages for charity award nights from their multimillion-dollar Montecito mansion.
During the past two years the couple lost 23 per cent and 19 per cent of support, respectively.
“They saw the biggest drop off in positive opinions of the other royals,” the authors said.
Most Australians also thought poorly of former foreign attache and teddy bear enthusiast, Prince Andrew. Only 15 per cent of those canvassed expressed a positive opinion, making him the least favoured royal.
About 57 per cent of Australians have expressed “a least a little” interest in Saturday’s ceremony in London. Millennials and their grandmothers were the most invested in the coronation and the personalities involved. According to the stats, come Saturday it will mostly be millennial women, those aged between 42 and 27, and women older than 77 tuning in to the celebrations.
“This research actually refutes the perception of some that Australians aren’t interested. Actually – while it’s not setting the place on fire – a majority of us do have at least some interest, and it’s not limited to older Australians,” YouGov’s polling boss Campbell White told The Australian.
One millennial breaking the mould is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister Patrick Gorman. The 39-year-old’s appreciation for the royals has bloomed like an English rose in the past few months.
“The closer you look, the more meaningful the coronation of King Charles III is for Australia,” he said. “Whether you are a monarchist or republican, or anything in between, this is a captivating moment. There is something for everyone from students of history to theologians, followers of fashion and political animals, logistics experts and project managers. The largest official ceremony of 2023 will be something to watch.”
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