Call For King Charles To Abdicate Throne To Prince William Grows Louder In Royal Poll

Fans of Netflix's "The Crown" may remember the first episode of Season 5, which presented the storyline that in 1991, half of the British public wanted Queen Elizabeth to abdicate and for her son Charles to become king. While the plotline made for some entertaining viewing, it wasn't exactly rooted in reality. It's not the first time the popular show has taken artistic license — "The Crown" has gotten plenty things wrong about King Charles III. In reality, a survey published in 1990 had the royal family at a very favorable rating, with the queen outranking her son in popularity. Of those polled, 47% of the British public thought the queen should "at some stage" step aside for her son, not right away, according to Insider.

Now, King Charles is potentially facing a similar scenario. Except it isn't playing out on a fictionalized TV show, but rather in real life. A recent survey of over 20,000 people across the commonwealth revealed what people thought of King Charles and whether he should stay on the throne, and it wasn't all favorable, as reported by Express.

According to Lord Ashcroft Polls, 22% of Britons surveyed would prefer King Charles to step down and let Prince William become king, even if King Charles was still in good health. The poll also showed Prince William as the second most popular member of the royal family — Queen Elizabeth was first. King Charles came in sixth, after both Catherine, Princess of Wales, and Princess Diana. And throughout the commonwealth, the Prince and Princess of Wales seem to be well-loved, with one person from Belize noting Prince William was, "younger, he's vibrant, he thinks different. He would do a better job."

This isn't the first time that the idea has been floated of King Charles stepping aside. In the years before Queen Elizabeth died and in the months before the coronation, there had been talk by some that King Charles could potentially abdicate to make way for Prince William, per Insider. Queen Elizabeth famously pledged her life to supporting the British Commonwealth when she was 21, and there was only one thing that would have caused Queen Elizabeth to abdicate the throne — illness. Whether King Charles will follow in his mother's footsteps or if he'll step aside to let his son become king, only time will tell.