Public support for the Royal Family has jumped
during the past five years, according to an
opinion poll published on Friday.
The MORI poll for The Times newspaper found
satisfaction with the monarchy had risen from
41% in 1995 to 51% today.
The poll, carried out last weekend, only a short
time after celebrations for the Queen Mother's
100th birthday, revealed that the percentage
of people "very satisfied" with the monarchy
had risen by six points to 13%.
Those "fairly satisfied" with the way the Royal
Family perform its constitutional role rose four
points to 38%.
Young princes
Support for the monarchy during the 1995
survey was low following the break-up of the
marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
But the Royal family
has enjoyed a
relatively stable period
with Prince William and
Prince Harry bringing a
younger focus for the
family.
The poll revealed that
the highest support for
the monarchy existed
amongst pensioners at
70% and Conservative
Party supporters at
74%.
Those dissatisfied with the constitutional role
of the monarchy remained unchanged from five
years ago at 20%.
'Out-of-touch'
The MORI poll, which examined the public's
attitudes to Britain's institutions, also revealed
that a large proportion of people are unhappy
with the way the court system operates.
The proportion of people dissatisfied with the
system rose from 35% in 1995 to 47% today,
an increase of 12%.
Apparently lenient sentencing, an out-of-touch
judiciary and the slow pace of justice are
thought to have caused the dissatisfaction.
MORI interviewed 1,014 adults aged 18 and
over between 17 - 21 August.
~*~
Wife of royal chauffeur is missing(Electronic Telegraph)
By Richard Savill
PRINCESS MARGARET'S chauffeur told yesterday of his concern about
the whereabouts of his estranged wife who disappeared two weeks ago.
Worried members of Nikki Griffin's family placed an advertisement in the
personal column of The Daily Telegraph this week appealing to her to make
contact. Mrs Griffin, 54, who separated from her husband, David, five years
ago and later moved to Devon, has bone cancer and had complained of being
in pain shortly before she vanished.
Mr Griffin, 53, has been chauffeur to Princess Margaret for 23 years. He
travelled to Exmouth from his flat in Kensington Palace last week to help in
the search. Mrs Griffin's sister, Ruth, placed an advertisement in The Daily
Telegraph which read: "Nikki Griffin. Stop, think, family and friends worried.
Please phone Ruth."
Last night, Mr Griffin, 53, who has remained "the best of friends" with his
wife, appealed to her to make contact. He said Princess Margaret was aware
of his wife's disappearance and was being supportive. Mr Griffin said: "She
knows all about it. She always shows concern for her staff and their
well-being."
Mr Griffin said his wife was an avid reader of The Daily Telegraph. "She will
certainly be reading the newspaper if she is up and around. I would appeal to
her: 'Whatever the problem is, just ring your sister or me. We can sort it out'."
Mr Griffin, who was a neighbour at Kensington Palace of Diana, Princess of
Wales at the time of her death, added: "It seems an unlucky palace. The
Princess died and one or two other people have had illnesses. The palace
seems to be cursed with bad luck."
Mrs Griffin is the licensee of the Manor Cottage Club, a private members'
club in Exmouth. She has not been seen there since leaving in a taxi to deliver
some old clothes to a hospice charity shop in the centre of the town on Aug
11. Police have monitored her bank and credit card accounts and say no
money has been withdrawn and no transactions have been made since she
disappeared.
Mr Griffin said: "Her disappearance came out of the blue. I think an
accumulation of events may have closed in on her. The business was not
making as much money as she thought it would. She was not well but I don't
know if her cancer was terminal. She kept a lot to herself. She is quite a
stubborn lady in that way. If she had killed herself they would have found her
by now. She could have gone off to a friend we don't know about. She does
not appear to have left the country. She is possibly in a hotel." Mr Griffin
described his wife as a "workaholic". They did not have children.
Sgt Steve Searle, of Exmouth police, said: "We are anxious to hear from
anyone who may have seen Nikki since she went missing on Aug 11, when
she was wearing a pale blue dress, white linen jacket and flat shoes.
Obviously we are becoming increasingly concerned for her safety. There have
been no sightings of her that we are aware of. Before she went missing she
was not very well and had complained about a sore leg. It is surprising we
have not found her yet."
~*~
Celebrations remind Palace of how
things used to be(UK Times)
BY ROBIN YOUNG
WHILE the major royal events of this year have been the
pageant and celebrations for Queen Elizabeth the Queen
Mother's 100th birthday, those in 1995 - when the latest
MORI poll for The Times showed that only 41 per cent
of people were satisfied with the monarchy - were not so
dissimilar.
Then, too, crowds filled The Mall to greet the Queen and
her family on the Buckingham Palace balcony, celebrating
the 50th anniversary of VE-Day.
The commemorative celebrations of 1995, like this year's
- when satisfaction has risen to 51 per cent - served as a
reminder of how things used to be for the Royal Family.
They brought back the memories of George VI
overcoming his shyness and stammer to become a
figurehead of a nation at war, of the Queen Mother giving
furniture and encouragement to victims of the Blitz, and of
the proud devotion of servicemen who had fought for
King and country.
By 1995 the Queen's annus horribilis of 1992 was
already three years in the past, but the events that made
that year so distasteful to her, and so damaging to the
popular image of the monarchy, were still being played out
in public.
It was 1992 which brought the dive in public esteem, the
Wales's separation coinciding with the collapse of the
Yorks' marriage, the Princess Royal's divorce from
Captain Mark Phillips and the conflagration at Windsor
Castle.
In 1995 the divorce and the death of Diana, Princess of
Wales, still lay in the future, though the divorce, which
went through in 1996, was already widely foreseen and
expected. The death, which followed wholly unexpectedly
at the end of August 1997, may, in its way, have
contributed largely to the improvement in the monarchy's
popularity ratings since.
In 1995 the Royal Family was still embroiled in
discussions or recent decisions about the Queen's liability
to income tax, cuts to the Civil List, bills for restoring
Windsor and the opening of Buckingham Palace to the
public. Debate was turning, also, to the future of the Royal
Yacht Britannia, whether she might be replaced, and if so
at whose expense.
The actual nadir of royal fortunes in the opinion polls still
lay some way ahead. By the beginning of 1997 almost half
the respondents declared in another MORI survey that
they were sure Britain would become a republic within 50
years.
More than a third said that the Prince of Wales had
damaged the Royal Family's reputation, though there was
even greater disapproval for the Duchess of York (whom
40 per cent thought guilty of the same offence).
More than two thirds wanted a referendum to decide the
future of the monarchy, more than half said they had less
respect for the Royal Family than they had a decade ago,
and a mere 8 per cent could be found who would say that
the Royal Family had high moral standards. It was after
the death of Diana, Princess of Wales and the
unprecedented emotional reaction to the tragedy that the
Royal Family began in earnest to put itself back in touch
with the populace.
A new informality began to democratise the public side of
monarchy. The Queen engaged more freely in
walkabouts, occasionally even doffed a glove, and began
to give popular large-scale parties for young achievers,
people in the arts and other groups containing a greater
proportion of younger people.
The greatest success in rebuilding his public image was
achieved by the Prince of Wales. A poll conducted while
the Princess was alive gave him only 42 per cent approval
for the way he was doing his job. By 1998 that rating had
risen to 63 per cent, as a result of the boost he had
received from appearing as the caring father of two sons
deprived of their mother.
The Prince also appeared less cranky about organic food
once the BSE and GM food scares had caught the public
imagination.