London, Thanasis Gavos

A majority of Britons still favor keeping the monarchy, according to a new poll, but younger people want an elected head of state.

The poll was conducted in mid-April, three weeks before King Charles’ coronation ceremony.

The YouGov poll of 4,592 adults for the BBC’s Panorama shows that 58% think the monarchy should be retained.

26% believe that the country should turn towards a despotic democracy.

At older ages support for the monarchy is wider, e.g. in the 78% for those aged 65 and over and to 67% of those aged 50-64.

On the contrary, in the age group 18-24 years old 38% want to abolish the institution against a percentage of 32% (30% answer that they have no opinion).

As to whether the monarchy has struck a good balance in the modernization effort, most respondents answer in the affirmative (44%).

30% consider that the institution has not done enough to get rid of the attitudes of the past, while on the contrary 10% respond that the changes that have been made are excessive.

45% say that King Charles is out of touch with the experiences of the British peopleagainst a percentage of 36% who consider him a person with knowledge of everyday life.

In the question about a “problem” in the royal family with issues of racism and diversity, which is included in similar questionnaires after the complaints of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, 46% answer that there is no such problem, compared to 32%.

Also, 54% think that in proportion to the money they give to the country compared to the money they receive from the state, the royal family makes a profit for Britain. The opposite opinion is expressed by 32%.

The final question concerns how much the public cares about the royal family.

42% are very or quite interested, compared to 58% who are not interested at all or only a little.

It is noted that here the percentage of those who declare that they are not interested in the royal family is higher up to the 50-64 age group.

70% of young respondents (18-35) also say they are “not interested” in the royal family.

The pattern of overwhelmingly negative views of the royal family is repeated across these sub-questions in the younger, as opposed to older, age groups.