The Royal Family is a staple of British history, tradition, and culture, with our reigning monarch known across the world. Following the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II on 8th September, the time has come for the coronation of HM King Charles III, the first coronation the UK has seen since 1953. Whilst many around the country will be celebrating the occasion, the popularity of the monarchy tends to be lower in younger generations. But does Generation Z have a unique relationship with the monarchy, and how will their relationship be impacted by the formal arrival of our new King? I am part of Generation Z and in this piece, I am going to express how I believe this demographic can reconnect with the monarchy.
Generation Z follows on from Millennials and precedes Generation Alpha. Gen-Z includes those born between 1997 and 2012, making the range of this generation from 11 to 26 years of age. I think Gen-Z’s relationship with The Royals is markedly different to any other generation within our society. A YouGov poll, updated in 2021, showed that only 31% of 18–24-year-olds believed the UK should have a monarchy, with 41% saying there should instead be an elected head of state. This is the only group more in favour of an elected head of state, with no other group closer than a 26-percentage point difference favouring the monarchy. Recent issues, such as Prince Andrew’s affiliation with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as Harry and Meghan’s break with the royals, have caused confidence in the monarchy to decrease, most obviously in the younger generation.
Individual popularity ratings don’t help the situation. The Queen’s approval rating stays fairly constant and remains at 80%. Charles, meanwhile, is sitting at 5th with a popularity of 55%, beaten by Princess Anne (66%) and William and Kate (65% each). Harry, Meghan, and Andrew are at the bottom of the list, with 29%, 23% and 11%, respectively. This has led many people to believe that William is more suited for monarchy and that the title should have passed to him, skipping Charles altogether. With the controversy at the end of the last century around Charles’ second marriage, many people simply don’t like him, regardless of his slightly increasing popularity in recent years.
There is also the key issue of the history of the monarchy. The true extent of the institution’s involvement with the slave trade in the 17th century to colonialism is not fully understood, although King Charles recently gave support for a study, co-sponsored by Historic Royal Palaces, to investigate the links. With younger generations more aware of historic and social issues such as these, many view the monarchy as an embodiment of this history.
With all this being said, I believe that in the future the monarchy certainly has the potential to appeal to the younger generations, especially Gen-Z. Whilst Charles may struggle to ever appeal to these groups, being 74 and possibly out of touch with issues young people face, his successors may be able to. Charles will be succeeded by Prince William & Princess Kate, and after them by William’s eldest son, Prince George, who is part of Generation Alpha with his two younger siblings. In recent years, the monarchy has been slimmed down and modernised slowly, and I believe that this momentum will continue. With royals becoming increasingly more involved with issues facing younger generations, I believe that we may see a resurgence in popularity for the monarchy in Gen-Z, but perhaps not until William or even George’s time as Head of State.
I, personally, like (most of) The Royal Family. I believe that they do an astounding amount of work, completing over 23,000 public engagements between them since 2014 (including 1470 between April 2020 and March 2021 during the pandemic) and are patrons of many charities, ranging from The Scout Association and WWF to Heads Together, Our Frontline and SSAFA, and more. I think the late Queen especially was a source of inspiration for many, having been the monarch for seventy years and working almost the entirety of her life for her country.
The monarchy does, and will continue to, have a fair set of challenges, ranging from the minor to the major, and the historic to the recent, and is being scrutinised more now than it has in the last few centuries by the public they serve. The monarchy as an institution must continue to modernise in the face of criticisms, and by taking steps to do this, it will continue to do good under the leadership of Charles, and see a resurgence in popularity in the long term.