In the multiple tributes to Elizabeth II, who died this Thursday afternoon at Balmoral, there is a word that appears repeated as an example of one of the British monarch’s successes: Commonwealth. The association that encompasses the former British colonies in pleasant coexistence with the former colonizer is older than the monarch —it was formally created in 1926—, but Elizabeth II was one of its greatest promoters. Not coincidentally, shortly after her Coronation, the British Queen undertook a six-month tour of various Commonwealth countries. That Christmas, in 1953, she sent her message from Australia and invoked the alliance: “I will give my heart and soul to this new conception of the equal association of nations and races all the days of my life,” she promised.
The Commonwealth is a key instrument for the British monarchy because it helps maintain the aura of relevance on the international stage. That is what the observer David Johnson, professor of Political Science at the University of Cape Breton in Canada, and author of Battle Royal: monarchists vs. Republicans and the Crown of Canada (No English edition): “In the UK, the real power is in the hands of the Prime Minister and Parliament, not Buckingham Palace. But at the same time, the Queen has the power of influence and soft powervisible throughout the Commonwealth.”
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Source: Observadora
