King Charles III's monarchy is floundering among 18 to 24-year-olds in Britain who would favor becoming a republic, new polling suggests.
The British royal family has been grappling with changing attitudes among Gen Z since research by YouGov in 2021 in the months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Oprah Winfrey interview showed declining support.
The trend has continued into Charles' reign, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II on September 8, 2022.
New polling published by YouGov on August 30 indicates 18 to 24-year-olds favor a democratically elected head of state.
A survey of around 2,000 U.K. adults conducted between August 14-15 showed 43 percent of Gen Z would choose to replace the king with an elected head of state while 35 percent would keep the monarchy.
And the monarchy as an institution had a net approval rating among the same age group of minus 36 while the king's was minus 28 and Queen Camilla's was minus 51.
Overwhelming support for monarchy among older Brits leaves the country as a whole supporting the crown by 65 percent to 25 percent—meaning the long-term hostility toward monarchy among the young is easily missable for those who do not look in detail at YouGov's numbers.
However, Gen Z's opinions could prove crucial if they retain that clear hostility as they age and pass on their perspective to the generations that follow.
The latest figures are an improvement compared to January when a survey by Savanta on behalf of the anti-monarchy pressure group Republic found 48 percent wanted to keep the monarchy compared to 32 percent who wanted to abolish it across all adults.
They are also in line with a previous YouGov poll from September 2023, when 62 percent wanted to keep the institution and 26 percent wanted to abolish it across all adults. In that survey, 37 percent of Gen Z wanted to keep the monarchy and 40 percent wanted to abolish it while the institution had a net favorability rating of minus 20.
Graham Smith, chief executive of the anti-monarchy campaign group Republic, felt the anti-establishment sentiment was driving the shift, rather than the rift with Harry and Meghan.
He told Newsweek: "This is going to stick in the long term. It's been a while now that there has been this sharp divide among people, well under the age of 50 really.
"It varies a bit from one poll to the next but it's going to be a constant source of trouble for them because as these people get older it's not going to change their minds.
"They're not going to be persuaded by any of the royals who are there at the moment so it's just going to continually drag down their poll numbers. As the older generations die off, they're going to see their poll numbers fall further."
"There's a view that the establishment, for want of a better word, the government, the state, has let people down and the royals are part of that.
"There's a big disconnect between the younger generation and the established parties and the established institutions.
"I think most young people couldn't care less about any of the royals including Harry and Meghan. I don't think Harry and Meghan resonate beyond those who are big fans."
The negative sentiment comes across in multiple questions posed in the latest survey, with 49 percent of that generation feeling the royals are bad value for money, and 35 percent feeling embarrassed by the monarchy compared to 21 percent who felt proud.
The royals did better among 25 to 49-year-olds, with 57 percent in favor of keeping the king compared to 31 percent backing an elected head of state.
This figure was still lower than among the oldest in society, with 82 percent of over 65s backing the crown compared to 12 percent wanting to scrap the monarchy.
If Gen Z were to change their perspective or Generation Alpha were to revert to a pro-royal stance, then the crisis could quickly evaporate for the royals.
Alternatively, if Gen Z sticks to their guns and Gen Alpha inherits the anti-royal anti-establishment perspective then the British monarchy's future could start to look increasingly bleak.
While it is predominantly Charles' responsibility now, Prince William may well prove to be the royal who inherits the crisis at the point it reaches its peak.
William and Princess Kate remain hugely popular with the public but still have notably lower scores among Gen Z.
The prince had a net approval rating among 18 to 24-year-olds of plus 20 compared to plus 55 overall. Kate scored 23 points among young people and 61 overall.
Meanwhile, royalists will be hoping Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis can inject some new enthusiasm in the years to come once they eventually begin royal duties, though that is some years away yet.
Jack Royston is Newsweek's chief royal correspondent based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jack_royston and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
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