When it comes to choosing their future monarch, it would seem Britain’s youth think with their hearts rather than their heads. A new poll of 15-25-year-olds reveals that a large percentage of young people would prefer royal heart-throb Prince William as their next king, rather than his father.
Released one week before willsspecial, the results of the Reader's Digest survey show that almost half of the 645 young people questioned are in favour of the monarchy passing directly to handsome Wills, bypassing 52-year-old Prince Charles in the order of succession. Young, hip and hunky, Prince William is a favourite of his generation and his well-documented popularity - just look how he's romping away with hellomagazine.com's current poll on the royalty page - is confirmed by the new survey results.
“Today’s young people are overwhelmingly favourable towards Prince William,” says Reader’s Digest editor-in-chief Russell Twisk. “They are very protective of him…They look to William to be a new-style head of state in tune with the 21st century.”
Those questioned believe the 19-year-old Prince will usher in a new era for the royal family, with over 70 per cent thinking he will modernise the monarchy.
According to the poll, William should also have more freedom in his life. A whopping 93 per cent say he should be free to marry whom he pleases, while 86 per cent agree the media should leave him alone while he is a student. Just over two-thirds of young people are in favour of the Prince going into paid employment after university, rather than spending time on royal duties.
If the Reader’s Digest poll results were glum news for Charles, in the long run they were also bad news for his son. Thirty two per cent of the respondents said they were in favour of the country becoming a republic while over half thought there will no longer be a monarchy in 50 years’ time.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
