Two-thirds of Britons don’t want Camilla to be Queen
PrINCe Charles faces a fresh blow to his hopes of being crowned King with Camilla by his side as Queen, according to a series of polls.
they come as he is already facing weeks of unfavourable headlines in the run up to the 20th anniversary of the death of his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales.
Yesterday a poll claimed that two-thirds of Britons do not think the Duchess of Cornwall should be Queen – and only 19 per cent thought she was fit for the role. the result will be a huge disappointment for Charles who has always cherished the hope that she would, one day, become Queen.
this is despite issuing a statement at the time of their marriage that he intended his wife to be known as Princess Consort when he accedes to the throne.
When asked by a US network in 2012 whether his wife could be Queen, he said: ‘We’ll see won’t we? that could be.’
In recent years the Duchess had also appeared to be winning over the nation with her public work, and events around her 70th birthday in July had apparently been well received. Another poll at the weekend suggested most Britons want the throne to skip a generation and for William to directly succeed his grandmother.
the surveys suggest the damage done by the recent documentaries and articles linked to the anniversary of Diana’s death on August 31, 1997, is far greater than Clarence House had feared. they reminded people of the difficulties around Charles and Diana’s marriage and the role Camilla played.
Most damaging was Channel 4’s decision earlier this month to broadcast videos in which the late princess talked with derision about her marriage and sex life with Charles.
Yesterday a poll in the Sunday express suggested that 67 per cent of the population did not want Camilla to become Queen.
More than a quarter – 27 per cent – said they thought less of Charles because of the documentary.
By contrast, 48 per cent thought more of William and Harry for speaking out about their late mother in two television programmes.
On Saturday a poll in the Sun said that most Britons wanted the throne to skip a generation and for William to succeed the present Queen. fifty-one per cent signalled their support for Charles’s eldest son to leapfrog his father, while only 22 per cent backed the Prince of Wales.
the Sun’s survey of 2,000 people had 30 per cent saying Camilla should not become Queen and should be satisfied with the title Princess Consort instead.
Clarence House declined to comment last night.