Tomorrow is coronation day in the United Kingdom is a special day when people around the world can take a breath and think about pressing issues such as:

That is a spectacle. A spectacle filled with nostalgia and warm patriotic feelings for some, and a reminder of the monarchy’s dear and scandalous past for others. As King Charles officially ascends the throne, polls show that while there are still many people around the world who have a soft spot for the pomp and circumstance of royalty, they tend to be older; young people (and non-whites) are more skeptical about the usefulness of the British monarchy in the modern world.

The most obvious problem with King Charles is that he is far from being the favorite of the public, at home or abroad. American Adult Survey. conducted by YouGov from April 29 to May 2 found that while he is not as unpopular as some other members of the family, the highest disfavor rating belongs to Prince Andrew, King Charles’s younger brother, who was deprived of military honors and “royal patronage” after a woman accused him of raping her when she was a teenager, it’s safe to say that relatively few Americans have a soft spot for him. In fact, slightly more Americans view King Charles negatively (40 percent) than positively (39 percent), and only 31 percent of Americans think King Charles should have been Queen Elizabeth II’s successor (for context: 24 percent say his son , Prince William, was supposed to be Queen Elizabeth’s successor, 15 percent say no one should have followed Queen Elizabeth, and 30 percent said they didn’t know.)

Luckily for King Charles, on the other side of the Atlantic, his approval ratings are not so bleak. A YouGov poll conducted in the UK at the end of April. found that 62% of Britons have a positive attitude towards Charles – much friendlier than towards his son, Prince Harry (25%), daughter-in-law Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex (24%) or Andrew (9%). . But Charles is far from being the most beloved member of the royal family, even at home. His other son and daughter-in-law, Prince William and the former Kate Middleton, have even higher approval ratings, as does Charles’ sister, Princess Anne. And, perhaps worst of all, his net approval rating – the proportion of Britons who approve minus the proportion of those who disapprove – is more than 20 percentage points lower than those of William, Kate and Ann.

Unlike elected politicians, King Charles can watch his popularity go down and down without worrying about how to win the next election – his job is for life. But in some ways the stakes are even higher for him, because public opinion about the monarch usually associated with views on the royal family as a whole, and there are real questions about whether the British monarchy is really survive the 21st centuryat least in its current form. And underneath these favor ratings lies a lot of apathy towards the institution of the monarchy in general – and skepticism about whether King Charles truly understands the public he is supposed to serve.

In other words, King Charles’ problems go beyond will it fit the size of the crowd at his mother’s coronation in 1953, when about three million people rushed to London to see her crowned queen. A BBC/YouGov poll in April found that although most Britons (58 percent) think Britain should continue with the monarchy, with only 26 percent wanting an elected head of state instead, there’s a huge generational gap. The vast majority of older Britons want to keep the monarchy, but the youngest group (18 to 24 years old) is torn: 32% believe the country should remain a monarchy, while grumbling (38%) wants an elected head of state, and 30% not know. White respondents were also far more likely than non-white respondents (62 percent versus 38 percent, respectively) to say they wanted to keep the monarchy. And even so, the British are unsure how their government should support the monarchy: You Gov Poll conducted in mid-April showed that a small majority (51 percent) of adults do not believe that the government should pay for the celebration, which could cost taxpayers over $100 million..

In one sense, there is some hope for British royalty—these polls, while underwhelming, do not indicate particularly strong anti-monarchist sentiment. Another question is whether King Charles is the best person to lead the monarchy to its next stage. This BBC/YouGov poll found that British adults in general are more likely to say that King Charles is “unfamiliar with the experience of the British public” (45 per cent) than “in contact” (36 per cent). the age difference is significant. A small majority of Britons over 65 believe that King Charles is familiar with their experience, compared to just 16 per cent of Britons aged 18 to 24. The vast majority (59 percent) of this group consider King Charles to have a sense of touch.

Perhaps once he officially ascends the throne, King Charles will finally be able to resolve his public relations issues. For many years he tried to correct his image problems – and the monarchy – promising less expensive royal family another emphasizing their commitment to environmental issues that are disproportionately important to young voters. This American will refrain from making premature judgments about whether his approach, including “sustainable” choice dressing up the coronation robes that belonged to his mother and grandfather, supposedly saving them from the landfill where gold-embroidered regalia usually end up, will resonate with the youth of Britain in the future.

Other Polling Bits

• Hollywood writers went on strike earlier this week after contract negotiations failed, resulting in production a lot of shows are dead. You Gov Poll taken on Wednesday, the day after the strike was announced, showed Americans generally support the strike, with 58% of adults surveyed saying they supported the writers’ strike, 15% opposed, and 27% said they didn’t.
• Poll Ipsos asked Americans last week about the potential abuses of artificial intelligence and found that many were concerned about the implications of this technology in the not too distant future. According to the survey, 72 percent of Americans are concerned that their data will be shared or that they will not be able to contact a person whenever they want, 70 percent are concerned that more misinformation will be spread online as a result of AI, and 57 percent believe that the tools will discriminate. or cause prejudice. Most Americans believe government should be involved in AI oversight, but opinions differ on whether government should play a major role (38%) or a secondary role (49%).
• Millennials aren’t doing well financially. according to a recently released March poll from Pymnts, a personal finance website, and LendingClub, an online lender. The survey found that more than 70 percent of millennials live paycheck to paycheck, compared to 60 percent of adults overall. But it’s not all bad news: the survey also showed that millennials, on average, have more money in savings accounts than they did a year ago.

Biden endorsement

According to the FiveThirtyEight Presidential Approval Tracking System, 42.7% of Americans approve of President Biden’s work, while 52.6% disapprove (-9.7 net approval rating). At the same time last week, 42.6% approved and 52.7% disapproved (net approval rating -10.1 points). A month ago, Biden had a 42.8% approval rating and a 52.7% disapproval rating, for a net approval rating of -9.9.

UPDATE (May 5, 9:22 a.m.): An earlier version of this article stated that England was the site of Saturday’s coronation. While technically correct, Charles III is the new monarch of the United Kingdom, not just England, so the text has been updated to reflect this.

FIX (May 5, 9:22 a.m.): An earlier version of the chart in this article indicated that the survey was conducted among residents of England, not the UK. The chart has been updated to reflect that the survey was conducted among UK residents.