Public do not want Harry to return to royal duties as nearly half tell pollsters House of Windsor is divided

• Poll shows 40% of Brits think that Prince Harry should not return to Royal duties
• It also says that 48% think royals are divided and 41% blamed the Sussexes

The public is largely opposed to Prince Harry returning to royal duties even on a temporary basis, according to a new poll.

The Ipsos poll also revealed that nearly half of Britons think that the Royals are very or fairly divided, with the prince and his wife Meghan being most often blamed for the split.

Fieldwork for the poll was carried out from February 29 to March 3, before recent stories about Kate’s Mother’s Day photograph.

When asked if Prince Harry should return to his royal duties, amid the context of King Charles’ and The Princess of Wales‘ absence due to their health, 40 per cent said that they would be opposed to this on a temporary basis, and 39 per cent were opposed to this on a permanent basis.

Just 26 per cent supported his return on a temporary basis and 25 per cent supported a permanent return.

And 29 per cent neither supported nor opposed Prince Harry returning to his royal duties on either a temporary or permanent basis. 

Almost half of Britons (48%) consider the Royals to be very or fairly divided, according to the poll.

And 25 per cent said that the royal family is very or fairly united while 18 per cent said they are neither.

The 48 per cent of respondents who think the Royal Family is divided were asked who they think is ‘most’ responsible for the divisions.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex jointly received the most blame of 41 per cent each.

Prince Andrew was in third place on 28 per cent. The media was in fourth at 20 per cent.

King Charles was in fifth place place with 17 per cent of respondents saying he was most responsible for splits in the Royal Family and his wife the Queen was in sixth place at 14 per cent.

Prince William was also thought to be most responsible for royal divisions by 14 per cent. His wife the Princess of Wales was thought to be responsible by nine per cent.

Staff within the Royal Household were blamed for divisions by six per cent of respondents and only two percent blamed Prince Edward while one per cent blamed Princess Anne. One per cent blamed Beatrice and her sister Eugenie was not thought to be responsible by any respondents.

And 11 per cent thought that everyone listed was equally responsible for divisions within the Royal Family. 

This comes after a poll this week named the Princess of Wales as the UK’s favourite royal, as Harry and Meghan’s popularity dropped.

The poll – which was also carried out before the publication of the controversial edited Mother’s Day photo – found 38 per cent of Brits like Kate Middleton the most.

However, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have plummeted in popularity by three points – with Harry on 11 per cent and Meghan on seven per cent. 

The poll results come after Sussexes raised an eyebrow last night as they made two announcements that clashed with Prince William’s speech at an awards ceremony in honour of his mother Princess Diana.

Despite perceptions of divisions, attitudes to the Royal Family as an institution appear largely unchanged, according to the new Ipsos survey.

The poll shows that 25 per cent think it would be better for Britain if the Monarchy was abolished.

And 41 per cent think Britain would be worse if the Monarchy was abolished and 24 per cent think it would make no difference.

These figures that have not moved much since the start of 2023.

Ipsos Director of Politics Keiran Pedley said of the findings: ‘These numbers make clear how far Prince Harry’s popularity has fallen in recent times. Once the most popular Royal, now just one in ten say he is their favourite.

‘Meanwhile, whilst Harry and Meghan are most likely to be blamed for Royal divisions, there is significant public hesitancy about Harry returning to Royal duties, even on a temporary basis. Even if a majority are not actively opposed.’