The Queen as Popular as Ever

After a year of British pride, including the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympic Games in London, it's not surprising that a poll by Hello! magazine showed that the majority of people are supportive of Her Majesty The Queen.

Although it's not clear whether those surveyed were readers of the magazine that does include a large amount of royal news from Britain and abroad, it is nevertheless staggering that three quarters of respondents said that they believe the Queen has done a good job and should continue carrying out her constitutional role. However 69% are of the opinion that at her age of 86, she should begin to scale down the amount of work that she does. Given that she has recently been recovering from illness that was serious enough to have her hospitalised for the first time in the last decade, I have to say that I agree. While it is clear that Her Majesty believes that her duties must be carried out for as long as she is able and she has absolutely no intention of abdicating, a reluctance that she confirmed during the Jubilee, it does seem that if she is to maintain healthier for longer, she should cut back.

And with several 4 children and 6 grown-up grandchildren, half of whom are already married, why shouldn't the Queen delegate more. In Hello!'s survey, 80% of people think that Prince William should be taking on more royal duties. The Duke of Cambridge, who will be 30 in June, has so far made his military career his priority, living a relatively private life on the Isle of Anglesey with his wife. But as he will eventually have to fill the shoes of his grandmother, as well as likely those of his father as Prince of Wales before that, it makes perfect sense that William should begin to shoulder some of the responsibilities attached to him as future king.

Fortunately for William, he and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, are already just as popular as the Queen, with many people wanting to see the couple as much as they want to see her. In fact, 62% of people enjoy seeing the Queen and the Duchess teaming up on royal outings.

So when the Queen's family are so popular, here's hoping that the elderly monarch will be able to pass some of her more mundane duties to the younger members of her family. For the sake of her health so we can enjoy her as our ruler for years to come, but also to provide the young royals will the opportunity to train themselves up to assume the roles that will inevitably be passed to them.