Increasing Number of Young People in UK Want Monarchy Abolished, Poll Shows

LONDON (Sputnik) – A growing number of people in the UK aged between 18-24 years would prefer to have an elected head of state rather than a monarchy, a new survey by YouGov, has found.

According to a new poll, 41 percent of the young people interviewed supported the idea of having an elected representative as the country's top authority, compared to 31 percent who wanted a king or a queen.

The study also showed that support for abolishing the monarchy has risen 15 points over the past two years, after reaching 26 percent in 2019 and 37 percent in 2020.

However, across the UK as a whole, the Royal Family still enjoys popularity, with 61 percent of people supporting the Queen, compared to 24 percent who would prefer the country to become a republic.

Among older people, support for the Queen and her heirs is even stronger, as between 70 and 81 percent of those aged 50-64 and 65 and above, respectively, said they still preferred the monarchy over an elected head of state.

The British Royal Family has had a succession of problems over the last few years, beginning with Prince Andrew quitting his royal duties in 2019 over his friendship with US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In 2020, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Meghan, also stepped away from royal duties and moved to the United States, where they gave an explosive interview to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey in which they accused the Royal Family of racism.