The nation splits: young versus old

Millennials back Meghan and Harry – but the baby boomers say they’re in the wrong

HARRY and Meghan’s decision to effectively quit the Royal Family has exposed a generational divide over attitudes to the monarchy.

A survey for The Mail on Sunday has found that while a majority of millennials – young adults aged 19 to 37 – back the couple’s ‘abdication’, more of the older, post-war baby boomers disapprove of their decision than back it.

A total of 48 per cent of those aged between 56 and 74 are against their shock announcement, compared with just 36 per cent who approve. Whereas almost twothirds of the younger age group support the Sussexes’ move.

The same split is evident when voters are asked whether the couple should have told the Queen about their decision first: a whopping 89 per cent of boomers say they should, with just nine per cent saying no. But almost one in three millennials (30 per cent) think it was acceptable to leave the Queen in the dark over their plans.

Alarmingly for Buckingham Palace, the Deltapoll survey found nearly a third (29 per cent) of millennials now support the complete

William and Kate seen as much better role models

abolition of the monarchy, with 42 per cent opposed.

Support for turning the UK into a republic runs at just 12 per cent among the boomers.

But when voters are asked which couple are the best role models – Harry and Meghan or William and Kate – the results are conclusive across the board: The Cambridges prevail by a margin of 64 to 15. Just four per cent of boomers cite the Sussexes.

Our poll also found strong opposition to the couple exploiting their royal status to make money after they move abroad – with 57 per cent of all voters objecting – and to their new lives being subsidised by the taxpayer.

A total of 61 per cent believe that they should repay the £2.4million spent from the public purse on repairs to Frogmore Cottage, their home on the Windsor estate.

A similar proportion, 60 per cent, do not think that they should receive security funded by the UK taxpayer after they leave the country.

The couple’s campaigning on the environment also receives a cool response in the poll: 43 per cent believe they are guilty of hypocrisy for urging awareness of climate change while taking regular longdistance flights. But 35 per cent believe that accusation isn’t fair.

William emerges from the poll as the only Royal who scores more than 50 per cent when people are asked which members of the family make a positive contribution, at 56 per cent say he does.

His wife Kate comes second with 46 per cent, followed by Charles on 40. Harry is fifth, with 29 per cent. His scandal-hit uncle, Prince Andrew, is backed by just three per cent of respondents. The poll also contains unwelcome news for Prince Charles: 43 per cent believe that the succession to the throne should skip him and pass directly to William; just 33 per cent think that Charles should become King.

Joe Twyman, co-founder of Deltapoll, said: ‘Although more of the public approve than disapprove of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s decision to step back from their duties in principle, a large majority believe that the couple have gone about it the wrong way.

‘Support for them is much higher among millennials, however, and so Meghan and Harry may hope that any animosity, hostility and negativity towards them reduces in the future.’

Deltapoll interviewed 1,055 British adults online between January 9 and 11. The results have been weighted to be representative of the British adult population as a whole.