Prince William and Prince Harry’s former aide Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton said he believes the monarchy will survive because it “has always been on the edge of crisis” amid growing debate about the institution’s long-term future.
Lowther-Pinkerton, a former Special Air Service [SAS] officer, was a private secretary to both royal brothers and was asked whether the monarchy was “going to be alright” during an interview to promote his new novel, Beyond the Edge of Light.
Why It Matters
A number of recent polls have suggested changing attitudes toward the monarchy, particularly among younger Britons, who are generally less supportive of the institution than older generations. That has led to debates about whether Britain might one day abolish the monarchy.
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Alongside these polling trends, controversies including Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s association with Jeffrey Epstein and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal exit have generated significant scrutiny of the monarchy.
Prince William and Harry Aide’s Remarks on Monarchy
Lowther-Pinkerton told The Royalist podcast: “The monarchy, throughout its 1,200 year history, has always been on the edge of crisis but it’s a brilliant, brilliant organism for change. It’s a chameleon, if you like, and I think it’s probably the most successful ‘corporate’… organization in existence for having done that.”
He suggested the royal family had been able to adapt and change even before Britain became a democracy, citing past executions of monarchs, of which Charles I was one.
“Obviously there were incentives,” he said, “in the past you’d get your head cut off if you didn’t. That doesn’t exist anymore. But it’s a really clever organization which takes the pulse of what’s required a bit in every age.”
“I’ve got no doubt that it remains able to do that, actually,” he concluded.
Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton’s Work With Harry and William
Lowther-Pinkerton was one of a handful of palace aides who Prince Harry discussed with affection in his book Spare, which was highly critical of others with whom he got on less well.
“To me, JLP’s finest trait was his reverence for truth, his expertise in truth,” Harry wrote. “He was the opposite of so many people in government and working in the Palace.”
During the podcast appearance, Lowther-Pinkerton reflected on his time working for the princes: “I realized that they were both great guys. And I really loved them, actually. I mean, they were really, really fun to be with.
“They were 20 years younger than me. And I always said I was the only private secretary who needed to be able to ride up a trial bike to keep up with them on their motorbikes. They are very good motorcyclists, I have to say. I never really did keep up with them, but I was very, very fond of them and I still am, both of them actually.”
The former aide worked for William and Harry before their relationship deteriorated in the two years leading up to Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to quit the palace for a new life in America in 2020.
“Circumstances have come along which are very sad but they’re not really for me to talk about because I left in 2014,” he said. “But I’m fond of them both.”
What the Polls Say About Monarchy
Newsweek recently conducted an analysis of polling dating back to the 1980s on British attitudes to the royal family, based around data from the British Social Attitudes survey.
If historical trends were projected forward in a straight line, support for abolition would not exceed 50 percent of the population for around 120 years. Public opinion rarely moves in a linear fashion, and an exercise of this kind cannot definitively predict the future. However, it does provide insight into the pace of change reflected in the historical data.
The same data set points to a potentially different challenge: whether the British public view the monarchy as important. Historical trends projected into the future suggest the proportion of Britons who either support abolition or say the monarchy is “not very” or “not at all” important could rise above 50 percent in around five years.
The same caveats apply. The past does not always predict the future but reaching such a tipping point would be unprecedented for the modern royal family.
Recent polling trends have created a more serious debate about the long-term future of the monarchy than at any point for a generation, though the data still points to a clear majority backing its continued existence.
The most striking development is not an outright collapse in support for the institution but a steady erosion from the levels seen during Queen Elizabeth II’s reign.
An Ipsos poll published in June 2026 found 55 percent of Britons preferred a monarchy while 27 percent favored a republic, the lowest level of support Ipsos has recorded since it began tracking the issue in 1993. The survey was not directly comparable to some earlier polling because it used a different methodology.
At the same time, YouGov’s regular royal trackers show a more resilient picture. In April 2026, 64 percent of Britons said they wanted to keep the monarchy, while 59 percent believed it was good for the country. King Charles retained positive ratings from roughly six in ten Britons, while Prince William and Princess Kate remained the most popular living royals.
One factor driving discussion about the monarchy’s future is the growing generational divide in attitudes toward the institution. Ipsos found only 33 percent of 18-34 year olds support the monarchy, compared with 45 percent who would prefer a republic. Among people aged 55 and over, support for the monarchy rises to 74 percent.
That pattern is reinforced by the British Social Attitudes survey, which found 59 percent of people aged 16-34 would prefer an elected head of state while 76 percent of over-55s favor retaining the monarchy. The same study recorded support for the monarchy at its lowest level since the survey began tracking attitudes in the 1980s.
In 2021, YouGov recorded 41 percent of 18-24 year olds in favor of an elected head of state compared to 31 percent who wanted to keep the monarchy. More recent YouGov data painted a somewhat more favorable picture for the institution, with 45 percent of 18-24 year-olds preferring a monarchy and 38 percent favoring an elected head of state.
Support for monarchy across the whole population continues to outstrip support for abolition and senior royals continue to poll strongly. Yet the age profile suggests royal popularity could come under greater pressure as time passes, unless Britons change their views over time.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Daniel Orton and Cristina Diciu.