Prince William voted most popular UK royal, ahead of wife Kate, Charles and Camilla

Prince William has been voted the most popular UK royal, beating his wife Kate, Princess of Wales, and his father King Charles III to the top position.

However, he remained a huge 12 percentage points behind the late Queen Elizabeth II, with people living in the Commonwealth still choosing her as their favourite member of the world’s most famous family.

The timely boost in popularity for William came ahead of King Charles III’s Coronation last month, where the question of whether or not some Commonwealth members may follow the likes of Barbados out of having the monarchy rule their nation is placed firmly into focus.

Republican sentiment has grown fiercely in recent months, particularly after Her Majesty’s death last year at the age of 96.

But it would appear that in William, the monarchy could have a leader to usher in the new generation of Windsors while earning support from the public.

Prince William voted most popular UK royal, beating wife Kate, the King and Queen

Prince William voted most popular UK royal, beating wife Kate, the King and Queen

The survey was compiled by Lord Michael Ashcroft and saw 22,701 people from all 15 countries in which Charles is head of state.

According to the files, 44 focus groups from a variety of backgrounds in Britain and the Commonwealth’s so-called realms – Australia, the Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands – were also consulted.

It found that Queen Elizabeth II was considered favourably by 76 percent of those surveyed, while William was second, with a popularity rating of 64 percent.

Making up the top five the late Princess Diana (63 percent), Princess Anne (62 percent) and William’s wife Kate (62 percent).

William remains the most popular living royal, way above his brother Prince Harry

For Charles and the rest of the family, there appears work to be done, with the monarch popular with 54 percent of respondents, two percent higher than the Royal Family overall.

His wife, Queen Camilla, is sitting on 39 percent in the poll, higher than the likes of Prince Harry (22 percent) and Meghan Markle (18 percent). Prince Andrew’s popularity is at just seven percent.

Reflecting on the scores, Lord Ashcroft noted that “while the King doesn’t need to be elected, the institution of the monarchy does need the public’s consent” and that a “monarchy that lost the support of the people would quickly find itself on borrowed time”.

He continued: “Within the UK, the position looks secure. The country would vote to keep the monarchy by a comfortable margin. After years of turmoil people especially value a constant presence above the grim spectacle of day-to-day politics, value the work of individual royals and believe the monarchy brings huge economic benefits to the nation.”

King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla

The pollster added: “Around the world, the picture is more mixed.

“In six of the 14 Commonwealth realms, more voters said they would choose to become a republic in a referendum tomorrow than would stay as a constitutional monarchy, and those in some other countries favoured the status quo only by small margins.”

It came as Dr Terrance Drew, the prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, said his nation was “not totally free” while Charles remained its head of state.

He told the BBC he would welcome an apology from the monarchy over its links to the slave trade.

Buckingham Palace told the broadcaster at the time it took slavery “profoundly seriously”.