Have Andrew and Sarah put the monarchy at risk?
Those in favour of 'The Firm' are a minority, according to a new poll
With the never-ending release of new allegations and accusations, showing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s inextricable ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it seems the monarchy has unsurprisingly seen a dip in favourability.
A new survey commissioned by Republic (granted it is the most notorious anti-monarchy campaign group), has shown that support for the monarchy has fallen even further to 45%, down from 48% over the last four months.
The poll also asked more than 2,100 adults online: “What would you prefer for the UK: a monarchy or an elected head of state?” Those who would prefer an elected head of state remained at 32%, but those who did not know had risen from 20% to 24% since October, when the last poll was conducted.
Falling support is ‘unsurprising’
Republic’s CEO Graham Smith, who reported Andrew to the police over the trade envoy allegations, said: “The trend across most polling is declining support, and this poll shows how low that support has gone… Falling support is unsurprising given the gravity of accusations against Andrew, and increasing concern William and Charles have known about and covered up these issues for two decades.”
Mr Smith also said: “The monarchy is not going to reverse this trend. The late Queen was the one person keeping this creaking institution going. Even her legacy is now being tainted by the Andrew scandal.”
The poll, which was conducted by market research company Savanta, was done over the weekend.
Royal reaction
On Monday morning, the Prince and Princess of Wales broke their silence on the Andrew/Epstein saga, saying via a spokesperson that they are “deeply concerned” at the “continued revelations” and that their thoughts “remain focused on the victims”.
On the same day, the King was also heckled on an away day to Lancashire when a man shouted “How long have you known about Andrew?” It was the second time in a week that the monarch had been publicly shouted at. A few hours later, Buckingham Palace released its unprecedented statement, saying that the King will “stand ready to support” the police if approached over fresh claims. Thames Valley Police had confirmed it was assessing suggestions that Andrew shared confidential reports from his role as the UK’s trade envoy with Epstein.
With the ceaseless allegations, and the King publicly distancing himself from his disgraced brother by agreeing to cooperate with the police, is it fair to say that Andrew, and his wife Sarah (who has made appalling headlines of her own), have put the monarchy at risk?
Vote in the poll and leave a comment below.
Further reading
Beatrice and Eugenie’s ‘strained’ relationship with disgraced parents
Don’t we all have a relative or two that we would like to take off the family tree. It is up to the rest of the family to prove they are worthy of the title and from what I read and seen they are doing just that.
yes, they have put the monarchy at risk....Tho I don't feel the wider family is responsible for the appalling behavior of Sarah and Andrew. They are beyond entitled. The more that comes out, the more unbelievable it is. Life was a lark, they existed only to satisfy themselves. Now the law needs to step in to investigate further the leaking of documents, etc.