Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton should be Britain's next king and queen, not the heir to the throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, two polls showed on Saturday.
An ICM poll, published in Britain's News of the World newspaper, showed that 64 percent of people wanted William and his future bride as next in line to the throne, while a YouGov poll in the Sunday Times found the majority of Britons thought William would make a better king than his father Charles.
Charles, 62, is currently next in line to the throne, now occupied by his mother Queen Elizabeth, 84. The British public has no say in who should be their next king or queen, a largely symbolic role in a country run as a parliamentary democracy.
The ICM survey also found that fewer than one in five people wanted the crown to pass to Charles and Camilla. The YouGov poll showed that 44 percent of people thought Charles should make way for his son to become the next king, against 37 percent who thought he should not.
William and Middleton, both aged 28, announced their engagement this week, thephotogeniccouple drawing extensive media coverage.
Charles is seen by some as too old to inject vitality in the monarchy should he eventually succeed his mother. Charles's wife Camilla is nowhere near as popular as his first wife, Princess Diana, who died in a car crash in 1997 after they had divorced.
The surveys come a day after Charles, in a television interview, said Camilla could be queen if he is crowned king. Charles married Camilla, his long-time lover, five years ago and at the time of the marriage, it was officially decided that she would have the title Princess Consort if Charles becomes king.
A CNN/ComRes poll this week found that more than three-quarters of those surveyed believed William and Middleton's wedding would be good for the monarchy.
While many Britons welcome William's wedding, set for spring or summer next year, some have expressed concern that alavishevent would be inappropriate for a countryreelingfrom harsh austerity measures to tackle a record budget deficit.
(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Web site.)
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(Agencies)
| 周六发布的两项民意调查显示，民众认为英国下一任国王和皇后应该是威廉王子和他的未婚妻凯特•米德尔顿，而不是王位的法定继承人查尔斯王子和他的妻子康沃尔公爵夫人卡米拉。
在英国《世界新闻报》上发表的一项由民调机构ICM进行的调查显示，64%的英国人想让威廉和他的未婚妻成为王位第一继承人。而《星期日泰晤士报》上YouGov调查机构的调查发现，大多数英国人认为威廉能成为比他父亲查尔斯更好的国王。
62岁的查尔斯目前是王位第一继承人，现在的王位属于由他的母亲——84岁的伊丽莎白女王。英国公众对于谁将成为下一任国王或皇后并没有发言权。在英国这一议会民主制国家，国王和皇后基本上是象征性的角色。
ICM的调查还发现，不到五分之一的英国人想让查尔斯和卡米拉继承王位。YouGov的民意调查显示，44%的人认为查尔斯应该让位给他的儿子，让威廉成为下一任国王，而37%的人认为他不应该这么做。
现年均为28岁的威廉和米德尔顿在本周公布了他们订婚的消息。这对上镜的情侣很快就吸引了众多媒体的报道。
一些英国人认为，如果查尔斯最终从母亲那里继承了王位，他的年纪会太大，无法为君主政体注入活力。查尔斯的妻子卡米拉则远远不及他的第一任妻子戴安娜王妃受欢迎。在查尔斯和戴安娜离婚后，1997年戴安娜在一场车祸中去世。
调查发布前一日，查尔斯在一个电视访谈中说，如果他加冕成为国王，卡米拉可能会成为皇后。查尔斯在五年以前和他相爱多年的恋人卡米拉结婚。当时，官方已决定如果查尔斯成为国王，卡米拉将获得王妃称号。
美国有线电视新闻网和民调机构ComRes在本周联手进行的一项调查发现，超过四分之三的被调查者认为威廉和米德尔顿的婚礼将对这个君主制国家有好处。
尽管许多英国人都对威廉明年春天或夏天举行的婚礼表示欢迎，也有些人担心这样耗资巨大的盛事对于一个即将采取严厉措施应对巨额财政赤字的国家来说不合适。
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（中国日报网英语点津 陈丹妮 编辑：冯明惠）
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