The majority of people in Wales would vote to keep the monarchy according to a new poll conducted ahead of King Charles III's coronation. However, almost half believe that it feels more like an English institution than something shared by the whole of the UK, while around one in three think the titles of the Prince and Princess of Wales should be abolished.
The polling, carried out by Lord Ashcroft and released on the eve of the coronation weekend, saw thousands of people interviewed in the 15 countries where King Charles is the new head of state. In Wales, the findings were largely pro-monarchy, less so than in England but more so than in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Asked how they would vote in a referendum on the subject tomorrow, the survey found that 54 per cent of voters in Wales would choose to remain in a constitutional monarchy. Meanwhile, 23 per cent would vote to become a republic, while the same percentage said they did not know or would not vote.
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By comparison, voters in England also said they would keep the monarchy, with 57 per cent in favour and 22 per cent wanting a republic, while 46 per cent of those in Scotland also backed the monarchy with 32 per cent in favour of a republic. However, voters in Northern Ireland narrowly favour moving a republic, with 46 per cent opting for it compared to 42 per cent wanting to stick with the monarchy.
Of those Welsh voters opting to stick with the status quo, 70 per cent of them said the monarchy was a good thing for the country, while just under a quarter argued that any alternative would likely be worse and five per cent claiming that the process of changing would be too disruptive.
Those who voted for a republic appear to be more anti-monarchy than they are pro-republic with only 30 per cent believing that the change would bring real practical benefits. However, two-thirds said the monarchy was wrong in principle and should be replaced whether there were practical benefits or not.
The majority of Welsh voters also agreed that the monarchy provides more stability in the country than we would have without it (64 per cent), that the King can unite everyone in the country no matter who they voted for (57 per cent), and that the monarchy "might seem a strange system in this day and age but it works" (66 per cent). Two-thirds also said they thought the royal family did a better job of connecting with ordinary people than elected politicians.
Meanwhile, just under a third said the titles of the Prince and Princess of Wales should be abolished since they had no real connection with Wales. However, 51 per cent believe they represent a valuable tradition that should be maintained.
Asked to choose between two statements, 69 per cent saw the monarchy more as "a valuable force for stability and continuity", and only 31 per cent as "part of a colonial past that has no place in the country today." People in Wales also rejected the idea that the King should issue an apology for the UK and the monarchy's part in this history of slavery and colonialism, with 58 per cent voting against it and only 24 per cent in favour of it.
However, it was agreed that changes were needed within the royal family, with 69 per cent of Welsh voters saying it should be scaled back with its cost significantly reduced, with over three-quarters claimining that it needed to modernise in order to survive. While they were split on whether they felt the monarchy was for everyone, 48 per cent of voters said it felt like mostly an English thing rather than an institution shared by the whole of the UK, compared to 43 per cent who felt differently.
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When asked to give their opinion on the new monarch and other royals, 57 per cent were favourable towards King Charles, compared to the 72 per cent who had a favourable view of the late Queen Elizabeth. However, Prince WIlliam is the most popular living royal in Wales, with 64 per cent of voters having a favourable view of him.
Meanwhile, 63 per cent were favourable towards Princess Anne, the Princess of Wales and the late Princess Diana, while just 21 per cent felt the same about Prince Harry, and only 15 per cent about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Asked where their sympathies lay between the Sussexes and the rest of the royal family, 11 per cent of Welsh voters said they sympathised more with Harry and Meghan, and 39 per cent with the King and Prince William, while 15 per cent sympathised with both, and 29 per cent with neither.
The poll - which can be found in full here - saw 659 adults in Wales interviewed online between March 3 and March 15 this year, with focus groups held with people from Cardiff, Swansea, Aberystwyth and North Wales. A total of 22,701 adults were interviewed in the 15 countries in which King Charles is head of states, with Lord Ashcroft finding six countries in which more said they would vote to become a republic than to keep the monarchy: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica and the Solomon Islands.
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