Britons remain loyal to Queen
Britons remain loyal to Queen
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Tuesday, 18, Apr 2006 04:08
More than half of Britons want the Queen to remain as the monarch until she dies, a new poll has found.
And most of those surveyed believe the monarchy should continue, although many are not keen on the current heir to the throne.
Out of the 1,500 people surveyed by ITV News, 57 per cent wanted the Queen to reign until she died, 16 per cent thought she should retire and hand over to Prince William, while only 12 per cent thought the Queen should make way for Prince Charles
Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 80th birthday on Friday and the event has led to renewed debate about the future of the monarchy once she dies.
But the royal family will be buoyed by the fact that 68 per cent of those polled said they wanted the monarchy to continue, while only 13 per cent would prefer Britain to be a republic.
Ingrid Seward, editor of Majesty magazine, is unsurprised by the findings of the poll and believes Britons feel "secure in the continuity of the Queen".
"I think no-one really has a word of criticism to say about her and everyone's hoping that she will continue to reign for at least another ten years, maybe even longer," she told the ITV News.
"She's remarkably fit; she has that longevity I think in her genes from her mother. There were photographs of her riding horses today in the newspapers and she's on her feet a lot of the time. Every day since she's become monarch in the last 54 years she's been up at 07:30 and working at her desk by 09:00."
The poll also showed that the British public have still not accepted Camilla. When asked to name their favourite royal, Britons put the Queen first with 26 per cent of the vote and Charles' wife Camilla bottom with only one per cent.
Prince William came second and Princess Anne third, while Prince Harry and his father were joint fourth.
When asked if Camilla, currently the Duke of Cornwall, should become queen if Charles became king, 57 per cent said no and only 29 per cent said yes with the rest undecided.