Prince William preferred as king

SUPPORT for the crown skipping a generation reached its highest levels, with almost six out of 10 Britons believing Prince William should succeed the queen rather than his father Prince Charles, according to a poll released yesterday.

The YouGov survey for the Sunday Times found 58% support for Charles to relinquish his claim to the throne in favour of his son, against 25% who say he should not.

By a majority of 60% to 21% - almost three to one - participants in the poll said they expected William to make a better king than Charles, with women particularly favouring the young prince by a margin of 68% to 18%.