Polls have found that across Europe, monarchs are consistently more popular than elected leaders.
On average, monarch scores in approval ratings about 30 percentage points higher than politicians. This pattern appears in every country studied, with Spain showing the biggest gap—close to 40 points.
Data from Morning Consult, presented by The European Correspondent, shows the same trend everywhere: people tend to view monarchs more positively than politicians, and the difference is significant.
In the UK, Charles III has an approval rating of 53%, while Keir Starmer is at 27%. In the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander stands at 63%, compared to 28% for Rob Jetten. In Norway, Harald V has 61%, while Jonas Gahr Støre has 31%. Belgium shows a similar gap, with Philippe at 66% and Bart De Wever at 35%.
The same pattern holds elsewhere. In Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf is at 55%, while Ulf Kristersson has 38%. Spain has the largest difference: Felipe VI reaches 76%, compared to 38% for Pedro Sánchez. In Denmark, Frederik X has 80%, while Mette Frederiksen stands at 43%. In Luxembourg, Henri has 69%, compared to 49% for Luc Frieden.
In Spain, Felipe VI is far more popular than Pedro Sánchez, reflecting dissatisfaction with the government rather than strong enthusiasm for the monarchy. A similar situation exists in the Netherlands, where Willem-Alexanderremains more popular even when public support for the monarchy itself is not especially high.
Even in countries where monarchs are less popular, like the UK, they still rate higher than politicians. As strife increases, this is not a surprising reaction, as people few monarchs as a symbol of stability, in comparison to politicians, who fail to assuage issues that continuously mushroom.
