THE people of Scotland would likely vote to keep the British monarch as the head of state after independence, a new poll has revealed.
The research conducted by Panelbase for the Sunday Times found that 47% of Scottish adults would vote to keep a royal head of state.
This is compared to the 35% who would favour an elected head of state, such as the presidency system in use in Ireland.
Eighteen per cent of respondents were unsure how they would vote on the issue.
READ MORE: Royals risk boost to Republicans over independence, Tom Devine says
The poll, which asked 1287 voters between June 16 to 24, also asked how Scots felt about a potential political intervention from the royals on the issue of independence.
The survey found that almost half of Scots (49%) thought such an intervention would be “unacceptable”. Around one-third (32%) said they would be happy to have the royals intervene politically, while 19% were unsure.
The news comes after outrage erupted at a secretive meeting held by Prince William and Kate (above) with Gordon Brown to discuss the matter of independence.
Reports have suggested that the Prince would be spending more time in Scotland in an attempt to combat rising support for Yes.
News also broke this week that the Earl and Countess of Strathearn’s train visit to Scotland, despite Covid travel restrictions in place at the time, cost the taxpayer almost £50,000.
READ MORE: William and Kate's £50k Scotland trip and other taxpayer bills from royal accounts
Asked if taxes in an independent Scotland should be used to fund the monarchy, 42% of Scots said no. The responses were relatively evenly split however, with 40% saying they would want to fund the monarch. Again, 18% did not know.
The poll for The Sunday Times found attitudes to retaining the monarchy after independence varied hugely with political allegiance. Tory voters most strongly favoured keeping the monarchy, with 78% backing the system.
Other Unionist parties also saw a high favourability towards retaining the monarchy, with 67% of LibDem voters and 62% of Labour ones backing the constitutional arrangement.
However, despite the SNP’s pro-monarchy policy, just 28% of the party’s voters back keeping the royals in place after independence.
Though support for keeping the monarchy remained the most popular answer across all age groups, it was stronger among those aged over 55 than it was with younger voters.
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