A top royal expert has said “bring it on” to a referendum on the UK monoarchy that she thinks would shut down the republican movement.
Jennie Bond, who worked as the BBC’s royal correspondent, has hit back at royal critics.
Speaking on GBNews The Live Desk the royal expert reacted to a recent YouGov poll which revealed 59 per cent of people believe King Charles is “doing a good job”.
Bond said: “I think he and the palace will look back on this first year with a great deal of satisfaction.
“Yes, the republican movement have been making a bit more noise.”
She added: “That’s partly because they get more publicity, because there’s more social media, people know where the demonstrations are going to be, and partly because there is a small increase in the numbers who seem to support the republican movement.”
But despite the “rise” in support for abolishing the monarchy, Jennie Bond insists “that’s fine” – as she doesn’t believe the number are big enough to make much of a difference.
She said: “I say bring it on, bring it on! If that’s the truth, then let’s have a referendum.
“And I really do think that all the polls suggest that if we were to have referendum then as you say, about 60% of the population would say, well actually we quite like it.”
Meanwhile, a source close to King Chalres says that after his first year on the throne he “looks 10 years younger”.
The monarch has been on the throne a year as of yesterday (Friday, September 8).
A source who knows the King well told The Times: “Before he acceded the throne, there was obviously a lot of nervousness around what would happen to the country following the demise of the Queen.
“And there was certainly nervousness around how people would accept him in those first few days.”
The source continued: “Someone who knows him well said to me, ‘He looks ten years younger and he has got a real sense of purpose about him’.”
King Charles’s successful first year on the throne has not come about by accident, however, with much of it mapped out long in advance.
The source said: “He has been at pains to make sure that as he has gone around in his first year; that he has spent time with a wide range of religious communities, as well as different ethnic communities, showing in deeds rather than just words that he is mindful that we are, as he has always said, ‘a community of communities’.”
