Prince breaks Balmoral tradition

On the day it was revealed that support for the Royal Family had fallen to below 50 per cent, Prince Charles chose to break with years of tradition and pose with his sons at the start of the Balmoral summer holiday yesterday.

His aides denied that the photocall was an attempt to portray Prince Charles in a sympathetic light, coming within days of the pictures of his ex-wife's holiday embrace appearing world-wide.

As the media frenzy over Diana, Princess of Wales, and Dodi al-Fayed continued, the new figures forecast a dim future for the royals. An ICM poll carried out for the Guardian found that a growing minority believed Britain would be better off without the monarchy. The fall in popular support, tumbling from 70 per cent three years ago, shows the damage inflicted on the royals' reputation by recent revelations. Now, 48 per cent think Britain would be worse off without the royals. Outright hostility to the Royal Family has grown from 13 per cent a decade ago to 30 per cent now. Kate Watson-Smyth