Canadians Express a Preference for Prince William as Next King

Only one-in-five would rather have Prince Charles as King, and just over two-in-five view the heir apparent favourably.

Vancouver, BC [March 7, 2019] – If presented with a choice to select the next monarch, a considerable proportion of Canadians would prefer to have the Duke of Cambridge as King, a new Research Co. poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample, 41% of Canadians say they would rather see Prince William becoming King, while 20% would prefer Prince Charles.

One third of Canadian men (33%) would like to have Prince William as the next monarch, while 22% select Prince Charles. The gap is more extreme among Canadian women (50% in favour of Prince William, and 18% in favour of Prince Charles).

Three members of the Royal Family have the highest levels of favourability across Canada: Queen Elizabeth II (71%), Prince William (also 71%) and Prince Harry (70%).

A majority of Canadians also express favourable views of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (68%), Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (60%) and Prince Philip (54%).

In contrast, only 43% of Canadians have a favourable opinion of Prince Charles and 32% feel the same way about Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

When asked about Canada’s constitution, 31% of Canadians say Canada should remain a monarchy, while 33% believe Canada should have an elected head of state. One-in-five (19%) do not care either way and 17% are undecided.

Support for Canada having an elected head of state is highest in Quebec (53%), while residents of Atlantic Canada and Alberta are the most likely to call for the continuation of the monarchy (42% and 40% respectively).

“Canadians who voted for the Conservative Party in the last federal election are significantly more likely to endorse the monarchy (41%), while those who supported the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 2015 express a preference for an elected head of state (42%),” says Mario Canseco, President of Research Co. “Liberal voters are almost evenly divided when asked about this issue.”

Across the country, 56% of residents expect Canada to “definitely” or “probably” still be a monarchy twenty years from now, while 23% think the country will “definitely” or “probably” have an elected head of state.

Methodology:

Results are based on an online study conducted from February 21 to February 24, 2019, among 1,000 adults in Canada. The data has been statistically weighted according to Canadian census figures for age, gender and region. The margin of error—which measures sample variability—is +/- 3.1 percentage points, nineteen times out of twenty.

Find our full data set here and download the press release here. 

Photo Credit: Diliff

For more information on this poll, please contact:

Mario Canseco, President, Research Co.
778.929.0490
[e] mario.canseco@researchco.ca