Published January 13, 2015
Sixty-five percent of Britons approve of Prince Charles' decision to marry his longtime lover Camilla Parker Bowles (search), but when it comes to Britain's next king, many people would prefer Charles' oldest son in that role, not the prince, a survey said.
The Web-based survey, conducted Thursday — the day of Charles' wedding announcement — and published in Friday's The Daily Telegraph, said that 65 percent of the respondents approve of the marriage at Windsor Castle on April 8, far higher than in previous polls.
Twenty-four percent said they shouldn't marry and 11 percent had no opinion.
However, when asked who should succeed Queen Elizabeth II (search) when she steps down or dies, 41 percent chose Prince William (search) and 37 percent preferred Prince Charles (search).
Nineteen percent said Britain should have no monarch after the queen, and 3 percent said they didn't know.
Prince William, 22, and Prince Harry (search), 20, are the children of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997.
The public also seemed uneasy about the fact that if Charles does become king, he would become supreme governor of the Church of England (search). Since the prince and Parker Bowles are both divorcés, they will get married outside the church in a civil ceremony.
In the survey, 49 percent said Charles should not be given that role. Thirty-seven percent said he should, and 14 percent had no opinion.
The YouGov survey questioned 1,313 Britons aged 18 or older.
YouGov uses the Internet to survey a panel of volunteers and says it adjusts its findings to reflect national opinion. However, established scientific pollsters are skeptical of its results.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/poll-brits-approve-of-charles-camilla-union