Almost half of Britons want crown jump to Prince William

PanARMENIAN.Net - As British Queen Elizabeth II prepares to celebrate her diamond jubilee the royal family is enjoying record popularity, but things could get a good deal more complicated after she leaves the scene, according to a new Guardian/ICM poll.

The Guardian says that a mere 22% of respondents say that Britain would be better off without the monarchy, as against an overwhelming majority of 69% who say the country would be worse off. This crushing 47-point royalist margin is the largest chalked up on any of the 12 occasions since 1997 on which ICM has previously asked the identical question.

Pro-royal feeling is spread remarkably equally among the social classes, and across the regions of England and Wales. It is less marked in Scotland – where 36% say the country would be better off without the Windsors – but even there a solid 50% feel the opposite way. Support is stronger among the older, and especially among Conservative voters, in whose ranks it reaches 82%. But across every age group and among Labour and Liberal Democrat supporters alike, the monarchy is enjoying solid support.

But if "long to reign over us" is the diamond jubilee sentiment, that could be partly out of nervousness about what is coming next. When voters were asked what should happen when the Queen eventually dies or abdicates, they remain resolutely anti-republican, with just 10% saying Britain should elect a head of state instead of having a new monarch. But if there is support for the hereditary principle, there is much less for what it means in practice. Only 39% want the crown to pass to Prince Charles in line with the succession, as against 48% who want it to skip a generation and pass straight to Prince William.