One year after, how do Britons feel about King Charles?

On 8 September, the UK marks one year since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, and the first year of King Charles III’s reign.

A new YouGov tracker survey shows one year into his reign, 60% of Britons have a favourable view of King Charles III, compared to 32% who have a negative view.

Currently, 62 per cent of Britons say the UK should continue to have a monarchy, with 26 per cent saying the country should have an elected head of state instead. A further 11 per cent are unsure.

These figures are consistent with our most recent polls, with support for the monarchy having previously experienced a brief bounce to 67 per cent in the immediate aftermath of Queen Elizabeth II’s death.

However, the youngest Britons are divided on whether or not to keep the monarchy – as they have been since 2020. Currently, just 37% of 18-24 year olds want Britain to remain a monarchy, while 40% would prefer an elected head of state.

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By contrast, most people in older age groups support staying a monarchy, including 80% of the over-65s.

It should be noted, however, that those who want to keep the UK a monarchy are more likely to say they feel strongly about this than those who want the country to become a republic (71% vs 50%). This is, again, a consistent finding with previous polling.

Most people (58%) think the institution of the monarchy is good for Britain. Only 21% consider it bad for the country, while 21% say it is neither good nor bad. Another 11% are unsure.

Again, these figures are consistent with how they have been over our polling since 2022, with a slight bounce for “good for Britain” in the wake of the Queen’s death, although this was only to 62%.

The youngest Britons disagree with the majority view, however. Only 30% of 18-24 year olds say that the monarchy is good for Britain; the same number think it is bad for the country, and 27% say it is neither good nor bad.

The public again tends to see the royal family as being worth the money they receive. Half (53%) think they are good value for money, compared to 34% who say they are bad value.

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The generations are very split, however. Fully three quarters of the over-65s say that the royals are good value for money. Among 18-24 year olds, just 34% agree – in fact, almost half (47%) say they are of bad value.

The public tend to be proud of the monarchy – 48% say so, compared to only 19% who find them embarrassing. A further 30% say they are neither proud of, nor embarrassed by, the monarchy, while 3% answered ‘don’t know’.

Young and old, again, take very different views. The large majority of the oldest Britons (64% of those aged 65 and above) say they are proud of the monarchy, but just 25% of 18-24 year olds say the same. Instead, these younger Britons are split between saying that they are neither proud nor embarrassed (34%) or actively embarrassed (33%).

Most Britons think the king is doing a good job (59%), compared to only 17% who say he is doing a bad job.

Again, these results are broadly in line with recent trends, with the number of people saying Charles is doing a good job having shot up to 63% upon Queen Elizabeth II’s death, and all subsequent polls giving figures in the 58-60% range.