Monarchy no longer rules the hearts of Brits!

LONDON, Aug 12: With speculation intense over Princess Diana and the reported new man in her life Dodi Fayed, a poll Tuesday said support f...

LONDON, Aug 12: With speculation intense over Princess Diana and the reported new man in her life Dodi Fayed, a poll Tuesday said support for the royals as a group has sunk below 50 per cent for the first time.

The Guardian/ICM poll in the liberal London newspaper The Guardian said only 48 per cent of those questioned thought Britain would be worse off without its royal family against 70 per cent who thought the same when pollsters asked the same question three years ago.

The paper said the poll showed the harm done to the monarchy’s reputation by repeated media revelations. The divorce of Diana and Prince Charles last year, Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles that Diana blamed for breaking up her marriage, Diana’s own admission of adultery while still being married to Charles, the divorce of Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York and the Duchess’ extravagances all took their toll.

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But a Mori poll in The Sun devoted solely to Diana and Fayed heaped next to none of the blame on them. It showed that 74 per cent of those Mori questioned thought their Mediterranean yacht cruise together last week made no difference to the royal family’s image.

The poll said 30 per cent thought Britain would be positively better off without Queen Elizabeth II and her family.

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