Poll finds most Canadians don’t want Charles as King

With the official coronation of King Charles less than two weeks away, a new survey suggests Canada’s new monarch could have a tough road ahead in winning Canada – and support for his wife, Camilla, appears to be weakening.

Although the May 6 event is likely to be the first coronation many Canadians will have the opportunity to watch for themselves — the last time Charles’ mother, Elizabeth II, was crowned 70 years ago in 1953 — a number of Canadians say they are looking forward to it. watch small shows.

A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute suggests most respondents (60 per cent) oppose even recognizing Charles as King. Just 28 percent said they had a favorable view of Charles, while nearly half (48 percent) did not.

And the news is also bad when it comes to the feelings of her husband Charles.

Following Queen Elizabeth’s death last September, there has been much speculation and debate about what Camilla will be called when Charles becomes king. First, she was the Empress, a title approved by the queen before her death. But when the invitation to May’s coronation was sent by Buckingham Palace, she was just Queen Camilla.

“During the mourning period, there is potential for confusion if Poll finds most Canadians don’t want Charles as King Queen used to refer to the late Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Camilla,” Toronto-based author and royal historian Carolyn Harris told CBC News earlier this month.

“With the coronation, there is only one King and Queen, Charles III and Queen Camilla.”

That obviously didn’t sit well with some Canadians.

Two thirds (66 per cent) of respondents to the Angus Reid Institute survey said they did not even recognize Camilla as Queen of Canada. A majority (60 percent) said she should not be called “Queen.” Only 21 percent think she should be called Queen, while 19 percent say she should be called Empress.

“Canadians are quite clear about their views on whether the monarchy is a modern institution, and indeed an institution that they want to see above Canadian law, politics, the constitution for generations to come,” Shachi Kurl, president of Angus. Reid Institute, told CBC News.

“And the answer is no.”

Support for the monarchy declined

Support for the monarchy overall in Canada has declined, and is lowest in Quebec.

In this latest poll, more than half of respondents (52 percent) said they did not want Canada to continue as a constitutional monarchy for generations to come, and a majority (88 percent) said they would. search with open constitution to break the relationship. In Quebec, 66 percent of respondents oppose Canada remaining a constitutional monarchy.

Overall, 45 percent of respondents said they would support opening up the constitution to break ties with the monarchy, while only one-third (33 percent) think Canada should remain a constitutional monarchy for future generations.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, setting up the coronation shouldn’t be at the top of Canada’s to-do list.

While the majority of those who responded to the survey (59 percent) said they would pay attention to the coronation on May 6, only nine percent said they were looking forward to it. One in five (20 percent) said they could adjust to some of it, while 29 percent said they could read about it, but really weren’t that interested.

Kurl said the numbers would make those at Buckingham Palace uncomfortable.

“It’s not like Canadians are in the streets preparing to protest against the monarchy, but the amount of ambivalence and the ‘meh’ factor in Canada – which represents a very important country in the UK – will be quite worrying.”

Explain the relevance, says Kurl.

“There is no more attachment to the monarchy among Canadians than 70 years ago, when the Queen herself ascended the throne and became king. At that time Canada was a country with very close, cultural and familial ties to England. … Today, the demographics of Canada are very different .”

Greater love for Queen Elizabeth

While the Canadian may never have felt the love for Charles, he embraced his mother, until the end of her life.

An Angus Reid Institute survey from 96 years ago found 63 percent of respondents said they had a positive view of him, and 59 percent said he would be sad.

But none of the potential heirs – including Charles’ son Prince William – are popular.

Only three in 10 told the Angus Reid Institute they view Charles positively (28 per cent), and more than half (52 per cent) believe he would do a worse job than his mother as king. About one in five (21 percent) think she would do as well as her mother, while only three percent think she would do a better job.

Robert Finch, chair of the Monarchy League of Canada, told CBC News it’s not surprising that the transition faces some challenges, as the monarchy and Queen Elizabeth have been inseparable throughout their time.

He believed that it would take a long time for Canadians to support Charles as his mother did when they learned about him.

He mentioned some of the initiatives that Charles has taken as a prince.

“Things like reconciliation with indigenous people, working with young Canadians and entrepreneurship, the whole environmental movement — I mean, Charles was an environmentalist before the green movement was mainstream,” Finch said.

“These are Canadian values ​​that people will look at and say, yes, I can relate.”

According to opinion polls, Prince William and his wife Catherine are seen more positively than Charles, but still have less support than Elizabeth. Among Canadian respondents overall, 53 percent had a positive view of William, while the number was 56 for Catherine.

However, among those who said they did not support Canada continuing as a constitutional monarchy, support for the pair fell to 36 and 41 percent, respectively.

What is worth noting, however, is that among those who say they support Canada remaining a constitutional monarchy, more have a favorable impression of William and Catherine (83 percent support each) than Charles (62 percent) or Camilla (43 percent). . cents).

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The Angus Reid Institute surveyed a representative random sample of 2,013 Canadian adults who were members of the online Angus Reid Forume from April 10-12, 2023. A probability sample of this size has a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.