Prince William celebrated his 44th birthday with a photo and an emotional vote of support

June 21 was Prince William’s 44th birthday AND Father’s Day. On their social media, Kensington Palace released this Matt Porteous photo of William and Princess Charlotte to celebrate with the message: “Happy Birthday and Father’s Day to the best dad in the world! We love you so much. C, G, C & L.” My first thought was… oh, William has noticed how many pictures the Duchess of Sussex has posted of Prince Harry and Lili. Like you can really tell Lili is a daddy’s girl and Harry barely lets Lili’s feet touch the ground. The message appears to be: “Being a girl daddy is MINE, Harold!”

This photo wasn’t the only birthday present for William. We knew it was coming, and here it is: a brand new emotional support poll. While the headline is quite negative – support for the monarchy has fallen to a 30-year low, lmao – they made sure to say that William is still the most popular member of the family.

Public support for the royal family is at its lowest level in more than 30 years of polling. The number of Britons who still want the country to be a monarchy has fallen by 11 percentage points in the past three years to 55 percent.

The figure, which reflects declining support for the monarchy among younger age groups, is the lowest in 33 years of Ipsos polling of the royal family.

The public reported an approval rating of 69 per cent in 1993, the year after Elizabeth II spoke of her “annus horribilis”, which marked a devastating fire at Windsor Castle and the end of three of her children’s marriages. It reached a peak of 80 percent support at the time of the late Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, then gradually fell to 60 percent in the year before she died in 2022. In 2021, the Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor scandal was ongoing and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had been interviewed for their Netflix documentary.

Now six in 10 of those polled say the monarchy has an important role to play in Britain’s future, while 30 percent believe it does not. The number of respondents who would prefer a republic was 27 per cent.

Six in 10 people think the king is doing a good job, and 71 percent report the same about the Prince of Wales.

The Ipsos survey of 1,062 British adults was conducted in March 2026, shortly after the arrest of Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office. The polling firm pointed out that it has changed its methodology since June 2025, using an online random probability panel instead of a quota telephone survey, adding that “comparisons with previous waves should be made with caution”.

The biggest drop in support has been among young people. The poll showed that 33 percent of 18 to 34-year-olds support a monarchy today, compared to 74 percent in 2013. Just over half of 35- to 54-year-olds support the royal house as an institution, compared to 74 percent of those over 55.

Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK Political Research at Ipsos, said: “Ipsos’ latest research into public attitudes to the monarchy reveals an ongoing trend that the royal family should not ignore. The monarchy still has its strengths, and King Charles and Prince William in particular remain personally popular with satisfaction ratings that most politicians could only demand would reverse this trend, but to reverse that particular trend. has an important, relevant role to play in the country’s future.”

(From The Telegraph)

The idea that more Brits think William is doing a better job than Charles is pretty crazy. Of course, the timing is important here – this poll was conducted in March, which was quite a low point for the institution, especially since Prince Andrew’s arrest was fairly fresh, as were the revelations in the Epstein files. But no, I don’t believe 70% of Britain thinks William is doing a good job or supports him as Scooter King. We call them emotional support polls for a reason, because the reality never matches the numbers. If William had that kind of support, he wouldn’t be wandering past empty barricades wherever he goes, nor would he be booed and mocked so consistently.

Happy Birthday and Father’s Day to the best dad in the world! We love you very much. C, G, C & L 💕 pic.twitter.com/17KWQ3VBIp

— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) 21 June 2026

Happy Birthday to the Prince of Wales! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/gS9eXvqTkN

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) 21 June 2026

Images courtesy of Kensington Palace, Matt Porteous for KP, Cover Images and Avalon Red.