SCOTS are far less royalist than the rest of Britain, according to a new poll.

Delta Poll found that just 41 per cent of people in Scotland backed the monarchy, compared with the 55 per cent who support it in England.

The poll also found that 28 per cent, almost one in three people in Scotland, were actively opposed to the institution, while 27 per cent were ambivalent.

Only 14 per cent of people in England were found to oppose the monarchy.

The poll was taken on behalf of the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange.

It also found that 49 per cent in Wales and 52 per cent in Northern Ireland backed the royals.

Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP said: “Given the challenges we need to tackle in our society - including inequalities in income, health and education - it’s no surprise that Scots are least likely to support the anachronism that is the monarchy.

“It serves only as a distraction from those important issues and a reminder of the social inequality that the UK class system is based on.”

Murdo Fraser, a Conservative MSP who backs the monarchy, took a rather different reading of the numbers.

He said: “This poll shows that there is substantial support in Scotland for the monarchy, contrary to the claims made in some quarters.

“The benefit of having a constitutional monarchy, as opposed to an elected politician as head of state, is still widely recognised.”

Scotland was the only nation of the UK where a majority did not see the monarchy as a unifying force after Brexit, the poll found.