The end of the British royal family? Experts say ‘The Firm’ is safe for now, but Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview signals trouble ahead

Mar 12 , 2021

The British royal family in happier times: can the institution hold after Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s bombshell Oprah interview? Photo: AFP

UK opinion polls show just 22 per cent of people sympathise with Meghan and Harry’s plight, but only 17 per cent think the country should ditch the monarchy

Queen Elizabeth may be beloved but ‘King Charles’ likely won’t be, warn experts, saying abolition would still require constitutional change or a referendum

The British monarchy’s immediate survival is assured, despite Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s claims of racism, experts say, but cultural rifts exposed by the row could signal trouble ahead.

The revelations are a “soft-power disaster for Britain” that raise questions over whether the monarchy “can, or should, survive at all without the queen at its head”, according to The Times’ diplomatic correspondent, Catherine Philp.

But polling at home suggests the couple’s explosive interview with US chat show host Oprah Winfrey has so far had little impact on the popularity of the 1,000-year-old institution.

The Queen still draws multigenerational, global admiration. Prince Charles, however, very much less so

Catherine Philp

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spilled a lot more than many bargained for in their interview with Oprah Winfrey. Photo: TNS

Around a third of people told YouGov that their sympathies lie mostly with the royal family, while only 22 per cent said they had more sympathy for Harry and Meghan – a four point rise since the interview was aired in Britain on Monday.

“This is certainly a crisis for the family, but that’s the royal family as a soap opera. It’s not a crisis for the institution of the monarchy,” said Robert Hazell, professor of government and the constitution at University College London. “It would only become a crisis for the institution if opinion polls began to show that it had significantly reduced support for the monarchy.”

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth remains much loved by many in the UK, but can the rest of her family maintain the decorum she is known for. Photo: AFP

Queen Elizabeth, who has been on the throne since 1952 and is now 94, remains hugely popular, with a 79-per cent approval rating that politicians can only dream of.

An Ipsos Mori poll this week also indicated that only 17 per cent of people believed the country would be better off without a monarchy.

But the family is reeling after a year in which Harry and Meghan quit the royal family and questions swirled about Prince Andrew, the queen’s second oldest son.