More young Britons believe Britain would be better off as a republic than a monarchy, an Ipsos poll has suggested.
Public support for Britain’s monarchy has fallen to its lowest level in more than three decades, a new poll has suggested. Just under half of Britons still favor abolishing the monarchy, with support particularly weak among young people.
Support for the monarchy has fallen sharply since reaching a peak of 80% in 2012 and will drop to 55% in 2026, according to data published by Ipsos on Friday. That number is the lowest recorded by the market research and polling firm since it began tracking the issue in 1993 and is below the long-term average of 71%.
Support has fallen across all age groups but is particularly low among Britons aged 18-34, where just a third of those polled said they preferred a monarchy – about half the level recorded in 2013. According to Ipsos, 45% of people in that age group would prefer Britain to be a republic instead.
Satisfaction with King Charles and his successor, Prince William, remains high, the poll suggested as 60% and 71% of respondents respectively said they liked the way the king and prince are doing their jobs.
The royal’s popularity took a hit over one of the royal family’s long-time associates to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The former Prince Andrew, brother of King Charles, was previously accused in 2014 of being one of the disgraced sex trade financiers.
Andrew settled a civil lawsuit with one of the victims of sex trafficking, Virginia Giuffre, in 2022, while still denying all allegations. In 2026, British police opened a criminal case against him after the release of additional files in the Epstein case suggested that he allegedly gave classified government information to a convicted sex offender.
Buckingham Palace commented on the case in February, saying the royal family was ready to support the inquiry “If we get approached by Thames Valley Police” and added to be a king “thought and compassion have been, and remain with, the victims of any form of violence.”
According to a YouGov poll in April, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor remains the most disliked member of the family, with more than 90% of Britons having “negative” or “very negative” his attitude.
The influence of the British monarchy abroad has also declined in recent years, with some former British colonies considering severing their remaining ties to the Crown. Barbados became the latest Caribbean nation to become a republic in 2021 while remaining within the British Commonwealth.
A survey by former Conservative Party deputy chairman Michael Ashcroft in 2023 suggested that six of the 14 overseas countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States – including Canada and Australia – would prefer to leave the monarchy.
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