Majority in UK want Charles to take over Queen's roles: poll

A majority of Britons want Prince Charles to take over Queen Elizabeth II's current roles while she retires and prefer that the crown is passed to him than to Prince William, according to a new poll.
According to the poll for The Sunday Times by YouGov, 42 per cent Britons want the 87-year-old Queen to let Prince Charles take on her duties after 62 years as heir apparent, compared with 36 per cent who want her to continue.
For the first time in a decade, opinion has also swung decisively in favour of the crown passing to the Prince of Wales (53 per cent) rather than skipping a generation to Prince William.

The results of the poll follow reports last weekend that Charles and the Queen have embarked on what is in effect a "job share", with him taking on more of the Queen's duties.
Three-quarters (75 per cent) believe this is a good idea with only 13 per cent opposed to it.
Buckingham Palace has made it clear that the Queen, who will be 88 in April, still enjoys remarkably good health and intends to honour the promise she made as a 21-year-old to serve her people for the rest of her life "whether it be long or short", a report in the Times said.

However, the poll found that if she became too ill to carry out her duties regularly or to appear in public, 47 per cent believe she should abdicate and pass the throne to her heir, against 46 per cent who would want her to stay.

In law, a regent would take over in these circumstances.
The public is ready for Charles to take over some of the Queen's core duties.
A majority (54 per cent) think it would be a good idea for Charles to take over the weekly audience with the prime minister, according to the poll.
"The Queen is of an extraordinary age, and Charles has recovered so massively in public approval(over the past five years). Now people are very comfortable with him having a substantially bigger role," Peter Kellner, president of YouGov, was quoted as saying.

The YouGov poll also showed that Charles no longer needed to fear being overshadowed by the youthful glamour of Prince William and his wife Kate.