Young People Back Prince William for King

Prince William's generation believe that the student prince is the man to help modernise the monarchy, according to a MORI poll conducted for Reader's Digest.

However, Tony Blair would be top choice as president, should Britain become a republic. He polls 21% of the votes ahead of Richard Branson (19%) and Prince William (18%). Worryingly perhaps for Prince Charles, he ranks only one point ahead of Big Brother presenter Davina McCall, gaining support from a mere 5%.

The survey of 645 15-25 year-olds was conducted by MORI throughout Great Britain. The results are reported in the October issue of Reader's Digest magazine.

• Almost half (46%) say that William should jump the queue to become the country's next king
• 72% believe William will help modernise the monarchy
• The majority of young people (86%) agree that the media should leave Prince William alone while he is a student
• 93% agree that Prince William should be allowed to marry whom he pleases
• 65% are in favour of Prince William going into paid employment after university rather than spending all of his time on Royal duties

Reader's Digest Editor-in-Chief Russell Twisk says: "The Reader's Digest survey shows that today's young people are overwhelmingly favourable towards Prince William. They are very protective of him and feel the Prince should be free from media attention and able to lead his own life. They look to William to be a new-style head of state in tune with the 21st century."

Further findings from survey include:

• 62% believe the Royal Family is too big and too grand
• 32% would prefer Britain to become a republic - nine percentage points up on a similar survey in November 1999
• 52% think that in 50 years' time there will no longer be a monarchy in Britain and a quarter believe it will be gone in 10 years

Technical details

MORI interviewed a representative quota sample of 645 adults aged 15-25 years at 388 sampling points throughout Great Britain. Interviews were conducted face-to-face in respondents' homes in two waves between 19-23 July 2001 and 26-30 July 2001.

Reader's Digest is Britain's best-selling monthly consumer magazine and reaches a circulation of 1.07 million people in the UK and has a readership of 3.35 million. The magazine has a broad mix of articles from all walks of life including human interest stories, health, relationships, celebrities, humour, and how-to features.