For most of the world, Queen Elizabeth II was the only British Monarch they had ever known, but on September 8, 2022, in the middle of the afternoon, Elizabeth II took her last breath and passed away. With the passing of his mother, King Charles III ascended to the throne, and inherited the title of His Majesty Charles the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of his other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

The death of Elizabeth II signals not only a passing of the crown but a major detriment to the likability of the monarchy. Support for the British throne has been declining for the past several years, with a majority of opinions sourcing from comments made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex exposing flaws in the monarchy.

In their highly publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey on March 7, 2021, Duchess of Sussex Megan Markle highlighted some of these flaws.

“It’s easy to have an image that is so far from reality, and that’s what was so tricky over those past few years, when the perception and the reality are two different things and you’re being judged on the perception but you’re living the reality of it,” Markle stated. “There’s a complete misalignment and there’s no way to explain that to people.”

This interview deeply exposed the monarchy and re-ignited a movement calling for the collapse of the monarchical system, but this is not a new movement. Newly anointed Prime Minister Liz Truss spoke her mind about the monarchy at a 1994 Liberal Democratic Party Conference.

“I’m against the idea that people can be born to rule,” Truss exclaimed. “That people – because of the family they’re born into – should be able to be the head of state of our country: I think that’s disgraceful.”

One primary reason for the monarchy’s decline is due to a younger generation not believing in the need to fund a figurehead’s lavish living. A 2021 survey collected by YouGov found that 41% of Brits aged 18 to 24 thought there should now be an elected head of state compared to 31% who wanted a king or queen. Additionally, the crown cost the British taxpayer £102.4 in the 2021 fiscal year (according to a report by the Accounts for the Sovereign Grant, which funds the Monarchy’s expenses) which provides the British people with just another reason to move against the monarchy.

This decline will only go down with the death of the Queen as now the Crown is represented by the far less liked Charles. YouGov found that prior to her death 75% of Brits supported Queen Elizabeth II, while only 42% supported now King Charles III. By replacing a long-lasting popular figurehead with her son who lacks popular support.

But, why is King Charles III so unpopular? Stemming from his relationship with the late Princess Diana the public has turned against Charles’ claim to the British throne. Former bodyguard Lee Sansum exposed some of the horrors of their relationship in a 2020 interview, citing claims that Charles tried to portray Diana as ‘crazy.’

“A lot of people said the princess was crazy, but I’m trained in various things such as human behavior,” Sansum stated. “I didn’t see any signs of the craziness she was alleged to have. She was just a normal person. Can you imagine being told you’re crazy but you’re not? It must be an awful feeling. She was the most balanced, lovely, caring woman. She was a wonderful mother. She was witty and fun.”

The nation beloved Diana and continues to do so, thus Charles trying to portray her as something that she did not have deeply harmed his own image. This lack of support for Charles also is sourced from calls by the public that he is a ‘snob’.

Sally Bedwell Smith highlights these beliefs in her biography Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life.

“He is a preening snob,” Smith writes. “Keenly sensitive to violations of protocol, intolerant of opinions contrary to his own, and horribly misled about the extent of his own talents.”

The monarchy has been passed into bad hands, and with people already calling for the collapse of the monarchical system this transition of power will have detrimental consequences for its future. The monarchy most likely died with Queen Elizabeth II.