King Charles needs to focus on rebuilding public confidence in the monarchy after a new poll saw his popularity hit a new low, claims an expert.
A new poll has shown that the King has received his lowest popularity rating since he ascended the throne, with just 58 percent of Britons thinking of him positively.
While the favourability rating is the lowest Charles has received throughout his four-year reign so far, PR expert Mayah Riaz says the King inherited a monarchy that was subject to more criticism than ever before with scandal surrounding his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and the fallout of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leaving the Firm.
However, the Mirror's royal editor Russell Myers believes part of the the King's dwindling rating could be caused by Harry and Meghan's resurgence in the UK.
To see more of the stories you love from The Mirror and to find them easily in Google then make us your preferred source. Free and easy-to-do, just click on the link here to find more from The Mirror at the top of your feed.
King Charles has received his lowest popularity score since ascending the throne (Image: Victoria Jones/Shutterstock)
PR expert Mayah Riaz told the Mirror: “The difficulty is that Charles has inherited an institution that is under considerably more scrutiny than it was during his mother’s reign. The public are less inclined to accept the traditional ‘never complain, never explain’ approach, and expectations around transparency, accountability and public responsibility have also changed considerably.
“On top of that, I’d say that there is a growing sense of royal fatigue. People are dealing with their own financial pressures and everyday challenges, so when they see the monarchy dominating headlines for the wrong reasons, it creates a disconnect between the institution and the public, who they are supposed to represent.”
Throughout the first years of the King’s reign, he has been forced to deal with a slew of scandals, most notably the arrest of his disgraced brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, and the return of his son and daughter-in-law Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK.
In navigating both of these dramatic situations, the King has been put in a difficult position between his duty to the Crown and looking after his family, which, according to Mayah, may have contributed to Charles’ dwindling popularity with the public.
Harry and Meghan returning to the UK has put Charles in a difficult position(Image: NEIL HALL/EPA/Shutterstock)
“I’d say that Charles has arguably one of the most difficult PR jobs in the country because he is expected to be both a father and a monarch, but those two roles don’t always sit comfortably together,” Mayah explained. “Needless to spell it out, the Harry and Meghan situation presents a completely different challenge. Their return to the UK brings renewed attention to family divisions that the Palace would probably prefer to keep private. But in today’s media landscape, we have seen family disagreements involving the Royal Family rarely stay private for long.”
The Mirror's royal editor Russell Myers added: "Harry and Meghan's move back to the UK was supposed to, in some quarters at least, mark a fresh start. The public clearly hasn't bought it. Their return looked more like royal cosplay than a genuine attempt at rebuilding bridges.
He continued: "It seems a great many Britons agree. Charity visits with all the trappings of an official engagement, coupled with fresh briefings that they were hard done by, have done nothing to win people round. If anything, the closer they get, the less the public seems to like what it sees."
With the monarchy still handling the situations surrounding both Andrew and the Sussexes, Mayah has warned the King that he needs to handle these matters in the right way to appease the public, or he will risk becoming an even more unpopular monarch.
PR expert Mayah Riaz believes the King needs to focus on his work (Image: GETTY)
She added: “The danger for Charles is that he becomes the face of every royal controversy, regardless of whether he has personally caused it. He clearly cannot control every family member, but he will ultimately be judged on how he responds to the situations he finds surrounding him.”
Despite the King’s popularity falling in recent months, the recent poll conducted by YouGov shows that the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the notion of the Firm as a whole, still proves to be popular with the public.
“The distinction is important,” Mayah said. “The monarchy as an institution is still relatively well supported, which suggests the public are not necessarily turning their backs on the Crown itself.
“However, Charles’ personal rating has fallen to its lowest point since becoming King. That tells me the public are making a distinction between supporting the institution and how they feel about the person currently leading it.
“What I find interesting is that William and Catherine continue to enjoy considerably stronger popularity ratings. That suggests the appetite for the monarchy is still there, but the public may be increasingly looking towards its future rather than feeling entirely connected to its present.”
Mayah has urged the King to focus completely on his work for the monarchy rather than getting involved with royal scandals, as he works to rebuild Britain’s trust in him as a monarch, rather than seeing him as a crisis manager for the Firm.
“I think the King needs to focus on rebuilding public confidence rather than trying to win a popularity contest,” Mayah explained. “The worst thing the Palace could do is appear overly concerned with polling figures or launch an obvious charm offensive. Instead, Charles needs to demonstrate strong, decisive leadership. This means showing the public that the difficult situations are being handled appropriately, that accountability matters and that the monarchy is not operating by a different set of rules."
This week has also seen the monarch come under pressure to apologise for Britain's role in the slave trade. King Charles is expected to acknowledge the “dark times” of slavery in a speech at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) today after Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he is 'open' to calls for a formal apology but ruled out financial reparations.
Leave a Reply