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The Monarchy and the Commonwealth: An Untimely Report

It is surprising that the report by the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau advocating that Queen Elizabeth II should be the final Head of the Commonwealth should be published during the period when the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee is still being commemorated, especially as the Queen’s devotion to the Commonwealth is legendary. The report advocates that the Commonwealth abolish its headship and be run instead by a Secretary-General along the lines of the United Nations, though it gives no guidance as to how a candidate for such a post would be selected. The special nature of the Commonwealth derives from its origins. The English language, common law and parliamentary democracy are the core values of its members as independent sovereign states who are also former British colonies. The link is also symbolised by the British monarch being its head. If it is seen by many, as the report claims, as a throwback to Empire, why have Mozambique and Rwanda, which have no British connections, joined in recent years? The Commonwealth will undoubtedly choose its next head and the report dwells at length on whether the Prince of Wales would be suitable in the role. It states that he has mainly concentrated on domestic issues, and he is indeed Britain’s foremost charitable entrepreneur with 16 core charities. His campaigns for the environment for over four decades, his advocacy of inter-religious understanding and his charitable foundations abroad show the constructive role he has created for himself both nationally and internationally. The report praises the Queen as well as the Prince, while proposing to remove the institution that they represent from the headship, with the Palace actually urged to issue a statement to confirm the change. What is required, it is argued, is a new dynamic Commonwealth with a broader appeal to the young, which is not hidebound by deference linked to an imperial past. It is, however, ridiculous to assume that a Secretary-General would be able to give the institution the same profile as the British monarch. If, as is claimed, Britain is inhibited in its actions as a member of the Commonwealth, it is because it is the former colonial power and not because the British monarch is the organisation’s head.