Royals should pay slavery reparations, say nearly half of Brits - exclusive Yahoo News poll
New polling has shown that nearly half of Brits support financial reparations being paid by the Royal Family over their historic links to the slave trade.
The Savanta poll commissioned by Yahoo shows a big difference in how the issue was viewed by different age groups, with younger generations supporting reparations more than their older counterparts.
It's another signal of just how polarising the royals have become, and why one expert thinks that they have "fallen victim to the culture wars"
Overall, 44% of Brits think that the Royal Family should make financial reparations for their role in the transatlantic slave trade, while 32% don't think they should and a further 22% don't know.
Watch: Royal Family 'has fallen victim to the culture wars'
The polling comes after King Charles announced he would allow a historian into the royal archives as part of a research project being undertaken by Historic Royal Palaces into the royals' ties to slavery.
However, Rishi Sunak made clear in Parliament on 26 April that the UK government currently has no intention of apologising for the country's role in the historic atrocity.
Of all age groups, 18 to 24-year-olds (58%) supported the royals paying financial reparations most strongly; this support gradually decreased to only 29% in the over 65s.
Political affiliation also played a part in how people responded to the question: with Conservative and Brexit Party voters coming in the lowest in favour of reparations being paid, at 29% and 20% respectively. 68% of Brexit Party voters surveyed said the Windsors should not make any financial reparations.
SNP voters responded most strongly in favour of the royals at 68%, this was closely followed by Green Party voters at 59% and Labour voters at 57%.
56% of respondents who voted Leave in the 2016 EU referendum said the royals shouldn't pay reparations, compared to 32% of those voted Remain.
King Charles has previously spoken about the UK's history of slavery on several occasions.
In 2018, he called it an "appalling atrocity" during a visit to Ghana, and in 2021 said that it "forever stains our history" during Barbados's official ceremony marking their transition to a republic and removal of Queen Elizabeth as their head of state.
Last year in Rwanda, Charles said in a speech that he "cannot describe the depths of [his] personal sorrow at the suffering of so many" and that he is working to "deepen [his] own understanding of slavery's enduring impact".
These sentiments have been echoed by Prince William, who expressed his "profound sorrow" over slavery during a visit to Jamaica.
However, as yet, no official apology has been given by the Royal Family for their part in the slave trade.
