Public support for the British royal family is falling fast. Queen Elizabeth ii has reigned for 69 years and is preparing to commemorate her Platinum Jubilee next year, but her family is in disarray. Her husband, Prince Philip, recently died. Her eldest son and heir apparent, Prince Charles, has teamed up with Pope Francis and a German engineer in the World Economic Forum-sponsored effort to destroy capitalism and reset the world economic order. Her second-eldest son, Prince Andrew, recently quit his royal duties following criticism of his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. And one of her grandsons, Prince Harry, is accusing the royal family of racism.

Amid these scandals, a YouGov survey of 4,870 people found that 4 out of 10 young Britons (age 18 to 24) said they would prefer it if their country had an elected head of state instead of a king or queen. Only 3 out of 10 young Britons said they liked living in a constitutional monarchy.

This represents a complete reversal of what most young Britons wanted before Prince Harry stepped back from his role as a senior member of the royal family. In 2019, a YouGov poll found that at least 46 percent liked the monarchy, and only 26 percent wanted it abolished.

Even though the royal family is losing support among young people, the monarchy is still backed by 61 percent of Britons overall (primarily due to overwhelming support among those above 65 years old). So the United Kingdom is unlikely to strip the royal family of its duties just yet. However, certain Commonwealth nations may use royal scandals as an excuse to become republics. Last year, a YouGov poll showed that 62 percent of Australians support ditching the British monarchy, indicating that Australia may abolish the monarchy before the United Kingdom does.

Regardless of whether or not Britain or Australia does away with the royal family right away, the fact that a plurality of young people wants them to is tremendously significant. The British royal family is widely regarded as the fifth-oldest royal family in the world by those who count King Alfred the Great as the first king of England, but the true history of the British monarchy extends back much further.

In The United States and Britain in Prophecy, Herbert W. Armstrong proved that Britain’s royal line goes all the way back to King David of Israel. God promised David that he would always have a descendant ruling on his throne. But David’s line appeared to end when the kingdom of Judah went into captivity in 585 b.c. What happened to that promise?

Mr. Armstrong explained that the Prophet Jeremiah brought the daughter of the last king of Judah to Ireland. He also brought the stone that the patriarch Jacob used as a pillow to serve as a coronation stone. By doing these things, Jeremiah prevented the royal line of David from being blotted out after King Nebuchadnezzar ii of Babylon conquered Judah.

Their descendants reigned over Ireland for several centuries before King Fergus the Great transplanted a cadet branch of the Irish royal family to Scotland. This branch reigned over Scotland for several centuries until it was overturned to England. So when Britons and Australians talk about abolishing the monarchy, they are talking about abolishing an institution that has exercised authority in Israel for well over a hundred generations.

Yet Bible prophecy shows that those who want to see Britain’s monarchy abolished will eventually get their wish. The Prophet Hosea wrote, “For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim” (Hosea 3:4). This prophecy has not been fulfilled in the generations since King David, so it must be for the immediate future.

In his book The Key of David, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes: “This is describing a very tragic period—the Great Tribulation—almost upon us. It is a prophecy about Ephraim [Britain], Manasseh [the United States] and Judah [the Jewish state of Israel], when they no longer have a king or even a prince. Jeremiah wrote that David’s throne would never lack a man sitting on it [Jeremiah 33:17]—yet here it says that for a time, Israel will have no king or prince. How can you reconcile this apparent contradiction? We must remember that the very elect of spiritual Israel [the faithful Church of God] is being protected by God at this time. Consider this as well: The word image in Hosea 3:4 refers to Jacob’s pillar stone—the stone Jacob called ‘God’s house’ that stayed with Israel for generations, and that to this day resides in Great Britain. God revealed to Hosea that in this end time, Ephraim is going to lose that stone.”

So God has prophesied that “David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel” and that “the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince.” The only possible way for Him to fulfill both prophecies is to make a major change to this throne. To learn more about this dramatic change in how God is handling this throne, please request a free copy of The New Throne of David, by Gerald Flurry. It shows how Jesus Christ Himself will soon be sitting on this throne!