POLLING EXPERT WARNS NEW KING FACES CHALLENGE TO PROTECT PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR THE ROYAL FAMILY

King Charles may have to work harder than the Queen to maintain public support for the royal family, particularly in Scotland, according to a polling expert.

A polling tracker by YouGov showed that in May only 42% of Scottish voters believed that the monarchy was good for Britain, compared with 54% across the UK. Meanwhile, an Ipsos poll in May showed that the Queen was the most popular member of the royal family with an approval rating of 86%, compared with 81% for Prince William and 65% for Charles.

Polling expert Mark Diffley, director and founder of the Edinburgh-based Diffley Partnership, said: “It is clear from polling that people in Scotland are more sceptical towards the monarchy as an institution than people in other parts of the UK tend to be.

“Now that the Queen is gone people are not about to man the barricades. But there are signs that the royal family under King Charles will probably need to work a bit harder at public perception and being in touch with the public more than the Queen was in her latter years.

“It was a different story 25 years ago when Princess Diana

died and the Queen came in for a lot of criticism. But the most recent polling shows that virtually the whole country was favourable towards her. King