Only about one in five Americans (19%) expect to watch King Charles III’s coronation on Saturday — with slightly more Democrats and more adults under 30 saying they will watch the ceremony.
In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, many Americans have mixed feelings about Charles — about as many view him unfavorably (40%) as favorably (39%) — and positive feelings about most of the other key adult members of the British royal family. The most popular living members of the royal family among Americans are the king's heir, Prince William (56% favorable); and his wife, Catherine (55%).
There are two major exceptions to Americans' positive views of the royals. One exception is Prince Andrew, who has had net negative ratings for many years as his association with Jeffrey Epstein has become more widely known. An Economist/YouGov poll conducted just after a November 2019 BBC interview in which Andrew denied having sex with an alleged teenage victim of Epstein's sex trafficking, found that 36% of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Andrew and 27% had a favorable view.
The other exception to the family's general popularity is Queen Consort Camilla, whose ratings consistently have been low in Economist/YouGov surveys asking about her. She fares better with younger adults than with older ones. Americans under 30 are about twice as likely to have a very or somewhat favorable rating of her than an unfavorable assessment. Americans 45 and older are much more likely to view her unfavorably than favorably.
About half of Americans (47%) see the British royal family as an even mix of good role models and bad. One in five (22%) believe the family has mostly good role models and 15% say they are mostly bad role models. Adults under 45 are more likely than older adults to consider members of the family to be "mostly good role models."
Most Americans expect that Charles will be at best an “average” monarch — just 15% say he will be above average or outstanding. This is essentially unchanged since the Economist/YouGov poll asked this question after Queen Elizabeth II's death in September 2022.
While Americans have a positive view of many members of the royal family, most Americans also have little interest in a monarchy closer to home. Just 12% say a U.S. monarchy would be a good thing, while 63% would see it as a bad thing. Younger Americans — who have a more positive view than older adults do of each member of the royal family — are more likely to say a monarchy would be good.
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Related: What Americans think of the British royal family before King Charles III's coronation
See the toplines and crosstabs from the Economist/YouGov poll conducted on April 29 - May 2, 2023 among 1,500 U.S. adult citizens.
Methodology: Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty Images (Yui Mok - WPA Pool)
