Poll finds most Canadians don't want Charles as King

With the formal coronation of King Charles less than two weeks away, a new survey suggests Canada's new monarch could have a tough road ahead when it comes to winning over Canadians — and support for his wife, Camilla, appears even weaker.

Though the May 6 event is likely the first coronation many Canadians will have a chance to watch themselves — the last one was when Charles's mother, Elizabeth II was crowned 70 years ago in 1953 — the number of Canadians who say they're looking forward to watching the event is small. 

A new poll from the Angus Reid Institute suggests most respondents (60 per cent) oppose even recognizing Charles as King. Just 28 per cent say they have a favourable view of Charles, while nearly half (48 per cent) do not.

And the news is equally bad when it comes to how they feel about Charles's wife.

Following the death last September of Queen Elizabeth, there was much speculation and debate about what Camilla would be called with Charles becoming King. At first, she was Queen Consort, a title the late Queen endorsed before she died. But when the invitations to the May coronation were sent out by Buckingham Palace, she was just Queen Camilla.

"During the period of mourning, there was potential for confusion if the [title] Queen was used to refer to both the late Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Camilla," Toronto-based royal author and historian Carolyn Harris told CBC News earlier this month.

"With the coronation, there is only one King and Queen, Charles III and Queen Camilla."

That clearly doesn't sit well with some Canadians. 

Two-thirds (66 per cent) of respondents to the Angus Reid Institute survey said they're against even recognizing Camilla as Queen of Canada. A majority (60 per cent) say she should not be referred to as "Queen." Only 21 per cent think she should carry the title of Queen, while 19 per cent said she should be referred to as Queen Consort. 

"Canadians are fairly unequivocal around their views of whether the monarchy represents a modern institution, and indeed an institution that they wish to see sit at the top of Canadian law, politics, constitution for generations to come," Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, told CBC News.

"And the answer to that is no."

Support for the monarchy overall in Canada has been on the decline, and lowest in Quebec. 

In this latest poll, more than half of respondents (52 per cent) said they don't want Canada to continue as a constitutional monarchy for generations to come, and of them, the vast majority (88 per cent) said they'd be fine with opening the constitution to break the ties. In Quebec, 66 per cent of respondents are against Canada remaining a constitutional monarchy.

Overall, 45 per cent of respondents said they'd support opening the constitution to sever ties to the monarchy, while only one-third (33 per cent) think Canada should remain a constitutional monarchy for generations to come.