Americans on the Coronation, King Charles III, and the Monarchy

In 1953, when the Gallup Organization asked Americans if they were interested in the coronation ceremonies for Queen Elizabeth II, 38% said they were and 62% were not. Nearly all the adjectives Americans used to describe the new queen were positive. Only 2% had neutral opinion, while 7% volunteered that her office was a waste of money or offered derogatory remarks about the English in general. Her ratings remained high, and they were in the public opinion stratosphere for the past quarter century in the US. No other woman appeared in the top ten “most admired woman living anywhere in the world” more often than Elizabeth did (52 of the 71 times between 1948 and 2020 in Gallup’s polling).

Opinions were equally laudatory after her September 2022 death. Majorities of all ages in an Economist/YouGov survey taken shortly after her death said her record would go down in history as outstanding or above average. Sixty-four percent in a YouGovAmerica poll said it was appropriate for the US government to fly flags at half-mast in tribute to her. On many questions about the ceremonial aspects of the monarchy, there are significant gender differences: 24% of men expressed interest in the coronation compared to 53% of women according to a recent Gallup poll.

So how is King Charles III faring here in public opinion? What are Americans’ views of the slimmed-down coronation plans and the staying power of the monarchy? In the December 2022 Economist/YouGov poll, 43% of Americans had a favorable opinion of him and 37% an unfavorable one, with older people being the most positive. In the poll, Prince William and Kate were more popular than Charles, with 61% and 59%, respectively, followed by Princess Anne (53%), Prince Harry (54%) and Meghan (49%.) In Britain, Harry, Meghan and Prince Andrew are the least popular. It’s not surprising then that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, won’t attend the ceremony. As for the upcoming coronation, YouGov found responses were similar to Gallup’s in 1953: 55% in the US said they didn’t want to watch.

In YouGov’s September poll, a third of Americans expected the monarchy to have less influence under King Charles while another third, 34%, expected it to be about the same. Only 7% expected it to have more. There were no significant differences among US age or political groups in response to the question. Unsurprisingly, only 8% thought it would be a good thing for the US to have a monarchy.

In a 1947 NORC survey 53% of Americans said the US and the UK have the same general ideas on most world problems Seventy-five years later, 56% gave that response. When asked about certain national attributes, Americans said the US was more a superpower than the UK (64% to 7%), is more politically divided (57% to 7%), is more diverse (51% to 12%), has a stronger economy (45%-15%) and is a better place to live. For all of our complaints about our political system, twice as many Americans (38%) said the US has a better political system than the UK (17%). The UK took the lead on having a more interesting culture (34%-30%) and longer life expectancy (27%-23%). Nearly twice as many thought the UK had a better education system than the US (35%-19%)

In Britain, the vast crowds that queued to view Queen Elizabeth’s coffin revealed affection and admiration for the late Queen, and polling in Britain suggests the monarchy is still strong. New polls in the United States suggest King Charles III doesn’t enjoy the warmth and enthusiasm that greeted his mum.