Head of the Commonwealth

Head of the Commonwealth
Personal Flag
Incumbent Queen Elizabeth II since 6th Feb 1952
Term length	Life
Inaugural holder	George VI
Formation	28 April 1949

The Head of the Commonwealth heads the Commonwealth of Nations, an intergovernmental organisation which currently comprises 54 sovereign states. The position is currently occupied by the individual who serves as monarch of each of the Commonwealth realms, but has no day-to-day involvement in the governance of those countries, or any other Commonwealth of Nations member state. The first Head of the Commonwealth was King George VI, who was succeeded by the second and current Head of the Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II. The office is personal to Queen Elizabeth II and there is no agreement concerning whether the office will pass to her heir along with her other offices.

Title

The title was devised in 1949 but was not added to the monarch's style until 1953. In that year, a Royal Style and Titles Act was passed separately in each of the seven Commonwealth realms then existing (except Pakistan), which gave formal recognition to the separateness and the equality of the realms by entitling the Queen as Queen of [Realm] and her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth.

Use in different languages

Position

The role of the Head of the Commonwealth is recognised by its members as the "symbol of their free association" and is akin to that of a ceremonial president, but for life: unlike a chairman or secretary general of any other international organisation, the Head of the Commonwealth is a symbol of the association, playing a very important role in shaping the Commonwealth. Elizabeth II serves as a leader, with assistants that play key roles like the Commonwealth Secretary-General (currently Kamalesh Sharma) and Commonwealth Chairperson-in-Office (currently Kamla Persad-Bissessar^[2]).

The Head of the Commonwealth attends the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) summits, held at locations throughout the Commonwealth, and has a series of private meetings with the Commonwealth countries' leaders, attends a CHOGM reception and dinner, and makes a speech there. The Queen or a representative (such as Prince Charles, Prince of Wales) is also present at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games and on every Commonwealth Day, the second Monday in March, broadcasts a message to all member countries.

History

The London Declaration of 1949, devised by Canadian prime minister Louis St. Laurent, states that the monarch, as a symbol of the free association of independent countries, is the Head of the Commonwealth. Republics — and kingdoms that are not Commonwealth realms — can recognise the monarch as Head of the Commonwealth without accepting the person as the country's head of state. When India adopted a republican constitution on 26 January 1950, it recognised George VI as the symbol of the association but no longer as India's head of state.

Elizabeth II became Head of the Commonwealth when she ascended to the throne in 1952. On her accession she announced, "The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace."^[3]

In December 1960, the Queen had a personal flag created to symbolise her as Head of the Commonwealth and not associated with her role as queen of any particular country. Over time, the flag has replaced the British Royal Standard when the Queen visits Commonwealth countries where she is not head of state and on Commonwealth occasions in the United Kingdom. When the Queen visits the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, this personal standard — not any of her royal standards — is raised.^[4]

List of Heads of the Commonwealth

Name	Portrait	Birth	Death	Start	End
George VI		14 December 1895	6 February 1952	28 April 1949[n 1]	6 February 1952
Elizabeth II		21 April 1926	Living	6 February 1952[n 2]	Incumbent

See also

• List of titles and honours of King George VI
• List of titles and honours of Queen Elizabeth II
• Commonwealth realm
• Republics in the Commonwealth of Nations
• Timeline of Commonwealth of Nations history

Notes

Footnotes

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