The Queen has done something quite extraordinary today: she has, very carefully, made an explicitly political intervention at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in London.
She told assembled world leaders:
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.
In other words, the Queen wants Prince Charles to be the next head of the Commonwealth. No ifs, no buts.
In itself, it’s no surprise she supports this idea. It makes sense for Britain’s monarch to lead an organisation that evolved out of what the Queen – on her 21st birthday – called ‘our great imperial family’. Not only will the Prince of Wales one day be the sovereign of 15 Commonwealth realms (plus the United Kingdom); he has also spent decades visiting the farthest-flung parts of the organisation and working to ensure good royal relations with them.
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