Satisfaction with the Queen at record high

Satisfaction with the Queen at record high

Prince Charles had a good Jubilee

Prince William more popular than his father

Nine in ten (90%) British adults are satisfied with the way the Queen is doing her job according to the latest Ipsos poll for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This is the highest level of satisfaction with the Queen that Ipsos has recorded since 1992 when the question was first asked. Just 7% say they are dissatisfied with the Queen.

The Queen’s ratings have not always been this high. In 1992 three quarters (75%) of Britons were satisfied, though this fell to 66% in March 1998. 10 years ago, when celebrating her Golden Jubilee around eight in ten (82%) were satisfied.

Prince Charles is also enjoying his highest ever satisfaction ratings with eight in ten (78%) satisfied with the way he is doing his job as Prince of Wales. In August 1997 just four in ten (42%) were satisfied.

However, Prince William’s approval ratings are on a par with the Queen’s – and higher than for his own father. Nine in ten (89%) Britons are satisfied with the way Prince William is doing his job as the Duke of Cambridge.

The satisfaction ratings for all three members of the Royal Family place those held by the leaders of Britain’s major political parties into stark context. The 90% that are satisfied with the Queen is more than the combined level of satisfaction with both David Cameron and Ed Miliband (34% and 35% respectively). And while Her Majesty enjoys a net rating of +83 (% satisfied minus % dissatisfied), the Prime Minister’s net rating is -24.

The only time in recent history that politicians have reached the high echelons of satisfaction with the Royals was in March 1998 when Tony Blair’s net rating of +34 (62% satisfied and 28% dissatisfied) was higher than Prince Charles’ +27 and not far off the Queen’s +46 (66% satisfied, 20% dissatisfied).

Much has been made of the Monarchy having to “rebrand” in recent times and an emphasis on younger Royals. This poll shows that among 18-34 year olds it is Prince William that has the highest ratings, with 87% of this youngest group satisfied with the Duke of Cambridge compared to 83% satisfied with the Queen and 70% with Prince Charles.

The Monarchy has retained strong support as an institution with 77% favouring Britain remaining a Monarchy over 15% preferring a republic.  Just before the Diamond Jubilee celebrations earlier this month Ipsos found support for the Monarchy to be the highest since we began asking it in 1993 with 80% favouring a Monarchy. This finding is line with that, and is the second highest Ipsos has recorded.

Despite Prince William having high satisfaction ratings among the 18-34 year olds, they are still the least likely to support Britain remaining a Monarchy. Two thirds (67%) of 18-34 year olds want Britain to remain a Monarchy compared to 87% of those aged 55+. Conservative supporters are the most likely Monarchists with 94% supporting the Monarchy compared to 74% of Labour voters and 85% of Liberal Democrats.

It is clear that Prince Charles had a good Jubilee, not only is his approval rating at a record high level– those saying he should give up his claim to the throne in favour of William has fallen to 36%, which is the lowest since April 2001. There has been a steady improvement in the public’s views towards him over the last year, with those saying he should stand aside falling from 46% in April 2011 to 40% last month before the Jubilee to 36% now. Around half (53%) say he should not give up his right to the throne.

• Download the charts (PDF)
• Download full computer tables (PDF)

Ipsos interviewed a representative sample of 1,016 adults aged 18+ across Great Britain. Interviews were conducted by telephone 9-11 June 2012.  Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.