Majority of Canadians want no role for royal family in country and back Meghan Markle’s racist bullying claims

Eighty per cent believe that Prince Harry and Meghan made the right choice to leave the Royal Family last year

Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians support the notion that the Royal Family treated Meghan Markle unfairly because of her race (VIA REUTERS)

Two-thirds of Canadians aged 18 and over believe the Royal Family should have no formal role in the country, an Ipsos poll has found.

The poll, taken on behalf of Global News, also found that 58 per cent of Canadians support the notion that the Royal Family treated Meghan Markle unfairly because of her race. This number rises to 98 per cent among Black Canadians.

Eighty per cent of those polled believe that Prince Harry and Meghan made the right choice to leave the Royal Family last year. 

The poll was taken last week, between 11 March and 12 March, after the couple’s tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey was televised. 

In Canada, the number of people who think the Royal Family’s formal role in the country should come to an end has risen by six per cent since 2016 and two per cent since last year. Sixty-six per cent of respondents said the Queen and the royals should not have any formal role in Canadian society, as they are “simply celebrities and nothing more.

However, public opinion of Queen Elizabeth II remains favourable, with 80 per cent of respondents believing the Queen has done a good job in her role as head of state. Around 60 per cent said the relationship between the royal family and Canada should end when the Queen dies, though only 53 per cent would back a referendum on this issue.

Read more:

• Kate Middleton ‘mortified’ by Meghan Markle telling Oprah she made her cry
• Prince Philip ‘not aware of the full extent’ of fallout from Meghan and Harry’s Oprah interview 
• Prince William speaks to Harry for first time since Oprah interview but talks ‘unproductive’

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex stepped back from their roles as senior royals in the royal family in January 2020. The interview with Oprah Winfrey was the first since the move.

It saw Meghan and Prince Harry make a series of claims about their lives as royals, including that one person raised concerns about the colour of their son’s skin.

It was also claimed that Meghan’s calls for help, when she was feeling suicidal, were ignored. 

A statement responding to the interview on behalf of the Queen said the family was “saddened” to hear “how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan.” 

They admitted that the issues of race were “concerning” and added that they will be “taken very seriously” and will be discussed privately. 

The interview, which aired on 7 March in the United States and 8 March in the UK, sparked speculation that some Commonwealth countries would reassess having Queen Elizabeth II as their head of state, with the hashtag #AbolishTheMonarchy quickly going viral online.

Australia’s former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull renewed calls for the country to become a republic and said the country should rethink the system after the Queen’s reign, while Barbados is set to cut ties with the Royal Family in November this year. It’s possible that Jamaica could follow suit, as the country has previously considered removing the Queen as head of state.

However, for most Commonwealth countries to sever ties with the Royal Family completely, a referendum would have to take place.