Survey shows Prince Harry second choice to become next monarch

Prince Harry is the second most favoured British royal to become the next monarch in a recent survey conducted among adult residents in the U.K.

Betfair Bingo asked 2,006 participants, "Which Royal would you like to see take on the role of King or Queen next?" The poll conducted showed Prince William as the first choice with 47.5 per cent of the votes. The Duke of Sussex received 8.8 per cent as the second choice to be the next monarch followed by Kate Middleton, at 6.6 per cent.

Meanwhile, Meghan Markle came in fifth in the survey with 2.7 per cent after Princess Anne with 4.3 per cent. Prince Edward grabbed the sixth spot with 2.1 per cent, followed by his wife Sophie at 1.8 per cent, then Princess Eugenie came in with 1.7 per cent. Finally, Zara Tindall received 1.6 per cent of the votes while Princess Beatrice received 1.5 per cent.

Per the Royal Family's official website, the "succession to the throne is regulated not only through descent but also by Parliamentary statute. The order of succession is the sequence of members of the Royal Family in the order in which they stand in line to the throne."

Currently next to become monarch after King Charles III is Prince William, followed by his children Prince George (2), Princess Charlotte (3), and Prince Louis (4). Despite the result of the survey, Prince Harry is the fifth in line to the British throne followed by his children Prince Archie (6) and Princess Lilibet (7).

Prince Andrew is eight in line followed by Princess Beatrice (9) and her daughter, Miss Sienna Mapelli Mozzi (10), and then Princess Eugenie (11) and her son Master August Brooksbank (12)

Prince Edward is the 13th, then his children the Earl of Wessex (14) and Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (15). Princess Anne is 16th in the line of succession followed by her son Mr. Peter Phillips (17) and his children Miss Savannah Phillips(18) and Miss Isla Phillips (19) Zara Tindall is 20th followed by her children Miss Mia Tindall (21), Miss Lena Tindall (22), and Master Lucas Tindall (23).

The survey comes after a different poll that showed 53 per cent of Americans agree that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's children Archie and Lilibet should have their HRH Prince and HRH Princess titles.

The British public choosing Prince Harry as the second to become the next monarch is surprising given the criticism he has lobbied against the monarchy and the royal family in the past years which started with his explosive interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. In it, he and Meghan Markle sparked racism claims when they shared that a senior royal had concerns about their future children's skin colour.

He then followed that up with another interview with Winfrey for the Apple TV+ docuseries "The Me You Can't See," in which he accused King Charles III of inflicting him "generational pain." Then came the "Harry & Meghan" Netflix docuseries on Dec. 8, 2022, in which the Sussexes gave a glimpse into the early days of their relationship, talked about their former royal life, and showed how being hounded by paparazzi played a big part in their decision to leave their royal life.

Then on Jan. 10, 2023, the Duke of Sussex released his memoir called "Spare." In promotional interviews for the book, he accused the royals of participating in a smear campaign against him and his wife. He accused Queen Consort Camilla of leaking stories to the tabloids as part of her "selfish P.R. campaign."

His most recent attack against the monarchy came in his privacy suit against Associated Newspapers Limited. A witness statement obtained by the Associated Press revealed that Prince Harry accused the institution of "withholding information" from him for a long long time about "phone hacking." He said the institution "made it clear" that the royal family "did not need to know anything about phone hacking" and that it was made clear to him that "the Royal Family did not sit in the witness box because that could open up a can of worms."