Queen Elizabeth Names Prince Charles as Her Successor, but Now as the Leader of the Commonwealth

It is for the first time, Queen Elizabeth publicly named Prince Charles to succeed her as the Leader of the Commonwealth. It is seen as a very big decision by the 92-year-old monarch, which may be followed by his name as the future King of Britain.

On 19th April 2018, when Queen Elizabeth II announced the start of the summit of the 53 Commonwealth nations, she also named her son Prince Charles to be the next leader of the association of Britain and its former colonies. In the grand ceremony organized at Buckingham Palace, the Queen said she wish Charles would “carry on the important work” of leading the Commonwealth nations.

For the last number of decades, the queen has been spearheading the union of Commonwealth Nations representing 2.4 billion people from five continents. The Queen in her speech made it clear that one day Prince Charles would be the helm of everything. “It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949”.

Officially the Commonwealth leaders are about to discuss the issue of the successor in a day or two at Windsor Castle, but with Queen's indication, on it is already clear to everyone now, who would be the next leader of the group.

On behalf of British Prime Minister Theresa May, her spokesperson James Slack said Britain supports Prince Charles becoming the leader of the Commonwealth Group, but it is for all other member countries to come to the final decision.

During her more than 66-year-reign as the head of Commonwealth Nations, Queen Elizabeth II, visited every member country, some multiple times, and experts view such visits are very much important for the survival of Commonwealth.

British Prime Minister Theresa May also praised the monarch for being “the Commonwealth’s most steadfast and fervent champion.”

The Commonwealth, as a group of nations, is committed to the cause of democracy and human rights. The organization played a significant role in ending apartheid in South Africa in the 1970’s, but many member countries have mixed opinion regarding this.

 

As many of the member nations are infected with corruption and power coups, which sometime destabilized the very essence of the organization. Like former President of Zimbabwe, Rubert Mugabe came out of the group in 2003, after it was suspended for human rights abuses. The Gambia came out of Commonwealth accusing it as a neocolonial institution.

 

In spite of this, Commonwealth as an organization seeks to provide support for democracy and fighting corruption, and also gives its small members a platform where they can voice their problems and issues to be heard by a large international network of nations.

Leaders from member countries ranging from large India to small Tuvalu are going to spend next two days meeting in London and at Windsor Castle. Britain would also use the platform for strong trade ties with other Commonwealth nations after its exit from the European Union next year it now needs stronger trade ties.