Kate Middleton and Prince William to have crucial impact overseas in new royal roles | Royal | News (Reports)

The Queen bestowed upon Prince William and Kate the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in April 2011, when they got married at Westminster Abbey. However, Prince William’s position in the line to the throne means he is destined to assume two more and increasingly demanding roles in the future.

And, one leading monarchist in Australia believes, the coronation of Prince William as Prince of Wales will be momentous for the future of the Crown.

Asked about the future of the monarchy in Australia after the end of the Queen’s reign, Philip Benwell, National Chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, told Express.co.uk: “William and Kate will become Prince and Princess of Wales and it will be a new Royal Family which I believe will strengthen the monarchy in Australia.”

Prince William is set to follow in his father’s footsteps and become the next Prince of Wales.

And, after the end of Charles’s reign, he will ascend to the throne with Kate at his side as Queen Consort.

As monarch, Prince William will be the head of state of the UK and 15 more countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Mr Benwell’s remarks come as a recent poll shows Australians support for republicanism slumping. 

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A poll ran by Ipsos for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and Nine News shows only 34 percent of those polled think an elected head of state would be the best option for Australia.

Out of the 1222 adults polled online between January 19 and 22, 40 percent of the respondents to a survey saying they don’t think the country should become a republic.

And more than a quarter, 26 percent, responded to the question ‘do you think Australia should become a republic?’ saying they didn’t know, marking the highest level of undecided responses on the issue recorded by successive Ipsos and Nielsen polls.

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Ipsos director Jessica Elgood was surprised to see such low support for an elected head of state in the country, given than only in 1999 Australia held a referendum on this issue.

However, she believes there are several factors playing into the current low interest for republicanism in Australia.

She said: “There’s no sense of momentum around the move to Australia becoming a republic at the moment.

“Clearly at the turn of the century, with the referendum, there was so much more attention to the public debate.”

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the vaccination drive and the bushfires which devastated large areas of Australia in early 2020 are likely to be at the forefront of many people in the country at the moment rather than the future of the Crown.

Moreover, the fact that the Royal Family is currently not unpopular and that the Trump presidency has just ended in turmoil may have played a role in the decreased support for republicanism.

This study was rejected by Australian Republic Movement chair Peter FitzSimons who said his movement experienced a 19 percent growth in 2020 alone, has increased his presence online and is gearing up to get “a lot noisier” this year.

Speaking to Express.co.uk in December last year, Mr Benwell also said his monarchist association has experienced a “rise in membership and a greater interest from the general public in supporting the Australian Constitution”.

Kate and Prince William are currently staying at Anmer Hall, their home in Norfolk, but in February 2020 they were rumoured to be preparing for a new tour Down Under.

This tour would have seen the couple supporting victims of the bushfires and boosting tourism.

The couple have so far visited together Australia only once, in April 2014.

Much like Prince Charles and Diana in 1983, Kate and William were accompanied by their young firstborn Prince George.