English, Welsh and Scottish are not the only subjects Charles III, who will be officially proclaimed king this Friday (9)🇧🇷 People living in the 14 Commonwealth countries, or Commonwealth of Nations, also have the king of England as ruler. Among them are Canada, Australia, Jamaica and New Zealand.
All of these countries are independent and have chosen a constitutional monarchy as their form of government. That is, they have democratic representation through parliament, but still have the British monarch as head of state. Apart from the prime minister, these countries have governors and deputy governors who act as representatives of the crown in the country.
The Commonwealth was born with the Statute of Westminster, signed on December 11, 1931. This was an amendment by the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established equal status between the various independent domains of the British Empire. The text offers total political independence for the territories that were British colonies.
Monarchy was not imposed on the state and anyone could become a republic, if that was the will of the population. That’s what happened to Barbados, a Caribbean nation that became independent in 1966 but only ceased to be a constitutional monarchy last year, when Sandra Mason was elected as the country’s first president. The decision was taken after 400 years of British control of the island.
Even if the British monarch’s influence over 15 countries is far more symbolic, many people take the “grandness and circumstance” that surrounds the monarchy seriously. One example is how shocked Australian senators were to see Lydia Thorpe, a senator of indigenous origin, refer to Queen Elizabeth II as a colonizer during her oath of office before the Upper House of Parliament last month. The obligatory oath speaks of “loyalty to his majesty.”
Check out the list of territories that have the British monarch as head of state:
- Antigua and Barbuda;
- Australia;
- Bahamas;
- Belize;
- Canada;
- Grenade;
- Jamaica;
- New Zealand;
- Papua New Guinea;
- Solomon Islands;
- Saint Lucia;
- Saint Kitts and Nevis;
- Tuvalu.
