Almost half of Britons think Charles should step aside for William to be king

Nearly half of Brits thinks Prince Charles should refuse the Crown and step aside for Prince William to become king, a survey has found.

The Prince of Wales is currently the longest-serving heir apparent in the world, having spent more than 70 years as first-in-line to the British throne since the Queen's ascension in 1952.

Despite the mammoth wait, research by Ipsos has found that 42% of people think Charles should step aside for his son the Duke of Cambridge to take the throne.

Some 24% think the prince should not stand aside, while 29% said they do not have strong feelings on the issue.

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The survey also found that 48% of people in the UK believe Charles would do a good job as king, compared with 19% who think he will do a bad job and 27% who think he will do neither a good nor bad job.

Researchers spoke with 2,055 British adults and found that the proportion of people who view Charles favourably has increased since 2018 to 43% – up 11 percentage points.

The latest polling shows that the Queen is by far the most popular royal, with 69% having a favourable opinion of her.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have seen significantly worsening favorability over the last four years.

Ipsos found that only 30% see Harry in a favourable light – down 35 percentage points from 2018 – while just 24% have a good opinion of Meghan, down 16 points.

Meanwhile, seven in 10 (69%) now have an unfavourable opinion of the Duke of York.

The research also looked at where Britons stand on abolishing the monarchy.

More than four in 10 people (44%) think abolishing the monarchy would be worse for Britain – twice as many as the 22% who think it would be better.

The survey comes following a turbulent few years for the Royal Family, which saw Meghan and Harry step back from royal duties and leave the UK to raise their two children, Archie and Lilibet, in California.

The couple have since taken part in high-profile and controversial interviews making allegations of racism within the Royal Family.

Earlier this year, Prince Andrew agreed to settle a case with his accuser Virginia Giuffre, following sexual assault allegations against him.

In February, Andrew agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to Ms Giuffre which included a "substantial donation to Ms Giuffre's charity in support of victims' rights".

Giuffre was suing Andrew over allegations he sexually abused her more than two decades ago when she was 17, a minor under US law, after convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein trafficked her to England.

The settlement is not an admission of guilt and Andrew has always denied the allegations.

Andrew has largely withdrawn from public life following the allegations and was stripped of his military roles and HRH status in January.

Gideon Skinner, head of political research at Ipsos, said: “At the moment only a minority of people believe Britain would be better off without the monarchy, and the popularity of the Queen and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge remains strong.

“Looking to the future, half of Britons have faith in Prince Charles as a future king and more people view him in a positive light than four years ago.

“However, with the popularity of Prince William not far behind that of the Queen, Britons also wonder whether Prince Charles should step aside in favour of his eldest son.

“But their actions now are still important for the longer-term future of the Royal Family.”