“She’ll want to hand over knowing she’s done everything she possibly could to help, and that she’s got no regrets and no unfinished business; that she’s done everything she can for the country and that she’s not let anyone down — she minds an awful lot about that.”
HRH Prince William talking about the Queen in 2011
Head of the Commonwealth
The Royal family’s future long-term involvement with the Commonwealth in an official capacity is a delicate subject and oneopen to debate by member states. It is not clear at this moment whether Her Majesty’s eldest son and heir to the British throne, the Prince of Wales – a devoted supporter of the Commonwealth – will follow tradition and succeed his mother, or whether someone outside the British monarchy will be chosen as the organisation’s preferred figurehead.
However, in 2015 at the last Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Malta,Her Majesty gave a clear endorsement of Prince Charles when she thanked him for his support and ‘great distinction’ in her address. In the powerful speech she also said she ‘cherished’ her time as leader of the Commonwealth – a role she has held for 64 years – and she also praised the Duke of Edinburgh for his ‘boundless energy and commitment’.
Many leading Commonwealth figures believe the monarchy helps to give the Commonwealth star quality, particularly now that the hugely popular Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry are actively representing the Queen on tours to Commonwealth countries…
Chapter taken from `Queen & Commonwealth: 90 Glorious Years’
Published for the Royal Commonwealth Society by Henley Media Group
