Queen Elizabeth II turns 90 Thursday, and new polling has found that a small majority of Canadians believe that given her age she should abdicate with Prince Charles being the next in line.
The new Ipsos poll, conducted on behalf of Global News, found 54 per cent of respondents ‘agree’ that ‘given the Queen is turning 90 years old, she should abdicate and let the next in line assume the Throne.’
Queen Elizabeth II is Britain’s longest-reigning monarch having served 64 years as the head of the House of Windsor.
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However, there has been a recent trend towards abdication among elderly European monarchs. In 2013, Beatrix of the Netherlands abdicated and handed the throne to her son, while Albert II of Belgium also abdicated in favour of his son the same year.
If the Queen were to give up the throne, Prince Charles would be next in line followed by his eldest son Prince William.
Despite her age, Queen Elizabeth doesn’t appear to show any signs slowing down. On Thursday, she is scheduled to celebrate her birthday with a royal walkabout around the residence of Windsor where she will meet and greet locals. On Friday, she’ll host a high-profile luncheon with U.S. President Barack Obama.
Should Canada continue ties with the Monarchy?
Canadians gave the Queen high marks according to the latest poll, with 84 per cent of respondents agreeing that Queen Elizabeth ‘has done a good job in her role as monarch’, including 92 per cent of those aged 55 and older.
However, Canadians feel less confident about wanting to continue formal ties with the British Monarchy following the Queen’s reign. Forty-five per cent of respondents said Canada should sever ties, while a small majority, 55 per cent, want to keep the status quo.
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Quebec residents (65 cent) were most likely to want to cut ties with the Monarchy, while Atlantic Canada (69 per cent) would want to continue links to the British throne.
Canada is a constitutional monarchy and the Queen is considered Canada’s Head of State.
On Wednesday, a new photograph was released features Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Charles and Prince William as well as the two-year-old Prince George posing in Buckingham Palace ahead of the Queen’s birthday. The latest portrait featuring the four generations of the Royal family will be turned into a commemorative stamp.
The Ipsos poll was conducted between April 15 to 18, 2016, on behalf of Global News. A sample of 1,006 Canadians from Ipsos’ online panel was interviewed online. The poll is accurate to within +/ – 3.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.