Public support for Australia breaking its ties to the British monarchy has slumped following a triumphant visit by Prince Harry and his pregnant wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, a survey published yesterday showed.
The Newspoll survey found that only 40 percent of respondents favored Australia becoming a republic, the lowest level of support in 25 years and 10 percentage points down from a similar poll conducted before the royal couple’s visit last month.
A total of 48 percent of the 1,800 people questioned said that they opposed ending the colonial tradition of having the British monarch as Australia’s head of state.
It was the first time since a 1999 referendum on the issue, which maintained Australia’s status, that supporters of maintaining the monarchy outnumbered republicans.
Australia’s opposition Labor Party, which is favored to take power in the next national elections due by May, yesterday announced that it would organize another plebiscite on becoming a republic if elected.
The poll indicated that such a bid would likely fail, as it did in 1999.
The turnaround in public sentiment came after Prince Harry and Meghan spent two weeks touring Australia, New Zealand and Pacific islands in a tour that drew adoring throngs.
It was the first international tour for Harry and the US-born former actress since the couple married in May and began with the announcement that Meghan was pregnant.
She charmed crowds with a down-to-earth style that saw her halt the royal entourage several times to give shy toddlers a cuddle and bring homemade banana bread to an afternoon tea in the outback town of Dubbo.
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