Prince William and David Attenborough most popular choices for head of state if monarchy abolished, poll finds

The Duke of Cambridge has come out top in a YouGov poll that asked the public which living person, royal or not, they would pick as head of state

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Prince William and broadcaster David Attenborough have been voted the most popular choices for Britain’s head of state, according to a new poll.

The poll, carried out by YouGov for The Times’ Red Box political newsletter, asked respondents who they would choose as an elected head of state instead of the Queen.

The question in the survey read: “If you could pick anyone currently living to be Britain’s elected head of state, who would it be?”

Of the 1,680 people who responded to the survey, 12 per cent voted for Prince William, followed by David Attenborough with 9 per cent and the Queen with 7 per cent.

Respondents were given the option to name anyone, leading 4 per cent of people to answer the question with “me”, putting themselves up for the job. Prime Minister Boris Johnson also scored 4 per cent of the vote.

A quarter of people who took part in the survey picked a senior royal, although only 3 per cent of people surveyed voted for Prince Charles, the current heir to the throne.

Prince Harry scored 2 per cent, matched by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The 20 most popular answers were not just royal family members and politicians, though. Stephen Fry (3 per cent) was the most popular celebrity after David Attenborough, while Joanna Lumley, Jeremy Clarkson and Piers Morgan all scooped 1 per cent of the vote.

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In a tweet, The Times’s Patrick Maguire said that Marcus Rashford, Judi Dench, Jonathan Van Tam, Andy Burnham, Theresa May, Eddie Izzard and Laurence Fox all received four votes each.

The poll putting Prince William as the public favourite for head of state comes at a time when the royal family are under increased scrutiny, following the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s revealing interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Prince William reportedly spoke to his brother Harry for the first time since the interview aired on Tuesday, according to CBS News presenter and friend of the couple Gayle King.

Speaking on CBS This Morning, King said that the talks were “unproductive”.