Editing Head of the Commonwealth (section)

==History==
In the late 19th and early 20th century, the [[British Empire]] began to be referred to as the ''[[Commonwealth of Nations]]'', with several colonies gaining substantial autonomy as they achieved [[Dominion]] status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100619122654/http://thecommonwealth.org/Internal/191086/34493/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 June 2010 |title=History – Though the modern Commonwealth is just 60 years old, the idea took root in the 19th century |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |work=thecommonwealth.org |access-date=29 July 2011}}</ref> Nevertheless, the unity of this Commonwealth was seen as being established by a shared allegiance to the [[Monarchy of the United Kingdom|British monarch]]. During the negotiations to end the [[Irish War of Independence]], the rebel Irish president [[Éamon de Valera]] proposed a relationship between Ireland and the British Empire he called [[external association]], under which Ireland would be a republic "associated" with the rest of the British Commonwealth, and would "recognise His Britannic Majesty as head of the Association" but not as Ireland's King or head of state. This proposal was rejected, and the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty|treaty]] that ended the war saw the [[Irish Free State]] remain part of the Commonwealth as a Dominion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://debates.oireachtas.ie/dail/1922/01/10/00025.asp#N8 |title=Appendix 18: The President's alternative proposals |date=10 January 1922 |work=Treaty debates |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=18 August 2012}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref>

The [[Balfour Declaration of 1926]] and the [[Statute of Westminster 1931]] established that the Dominions were equal in status to one another and legislatively independent, which gave each of them the right to legislate in regard to their shared head of state; thus, the [[abdication of Edward VIII]] and the accession of his brother as [[George VI]] required separate action in each Dominion. The Irish Free State, under de Valera's leadership, changed its constitutional law to create the office of an elected [[President of Ireland]] and limit the monarch to only a ceremonial role in foreign relations as a "symbol of cooperation" with other nations of the Commonwealth.<ref>{{Cite ISB|title=[[Executive Authority (External Relations) Act 1936]]|year=1936|number=58|section=3|stitle=Exercise of foregoing power|parl=ifs|date=12 December 1936}}</ref> This [[Irish head of state from 1922 to 1949|ambiguity over the Irish head of state]] allowed the rest of the Commonwealth to continue to regard George VI as a monarch they shared with Ireland even as de Valera declared that Ireland was now "demonstrably a republic".<ref name="Dail1945-07-17">{{cite web |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1945-07-17/24/ |title=Committee on Finance. – Vote 65—External Affairs. |date=17 July 1945 |work=Dáil Éireann debates |pages=Vol. 97 No. 23 p.22 cc2569–70 |access-date=25 June 2013 |archive-date=16 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516185900/https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1945-07-17/24/ |url-status=live}}</ref> Eventually the Irish government passed [[The Republic of Ireland Act 1948]], eliminating the final roles the King had in the state and terminating the Republic's membership in the Commonwealth when it went into effect in 1949.

[[File:Commonwealth Prime Ministers in London 1949.jpg|thumb|The Commonwealth prime ministers with King [[George VI]] at Buckingham Palace for the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference, 1949]]

At that point, [[George VI]] was still king of the [[United Kingdom]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]], [[Dominion of India|India]], [[Dominion of Pakistan|Pakistan]], and [[Dominion of Ceylon|Ceylon]]. However, India also wished to become a republic, but, unlike Ireland, did not wish to leave the Commonwealth. To accommodate this, the [[London Declaration]], issued in late April 1949,{{refn|<ref name="declaration">{{citation |url=https://production-new-commonwealth-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2022-01/London-Declaration%201.pdf?VersionId=SvtHItvsceppjMbSUsX.DvpI0hWMfDkv |title=London Declaration |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |access-date=24 April 2023 |archive-date=28 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428122912/https://production-new-commonwealth-files.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/2022-01/London-Declaration%201.pdf?VersionId=SvtHItvsceppjMbSUsX.DvpI0hWMfDkv |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5847/73/1949_London_Declaration.pdf |title=Key Commonwealth Documents: The London Declaration |publisher=Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London |access-date=24 April 2023 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424200505/https://sas-space.sas.ac.uk/5847/73/1949_London_Declaration.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="smith">{{citation |title=The London Declaration of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers, April 28, 1949 |author=S. A. de Smith |journal=The Modern Law Review |year=1949 |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=351–354 |publisher=Wiley on behalf of the Modern Law Review |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2230.1949.tb00131.x |jstor=1090506 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{citation |page=118 |title=Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family: A Glorious Illustrated History |isbn=978-0-241-29665-3 |year=2016 |publisher=Dorling Kindersley Limited}}</ref><ref name="final">{{cite web |title=MEETING of PRIME MINISTERS, APRIL, 1949 Text of Final Communique Issued at the Conclusion of the Meeting of Prime Ministers Held at London from 22 to 27 April, 1949, Together with Press Statement by the Right Hon. P. Fraser London, 28 April, 1949 |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/AJHR1949-I.2.1.2.18 |work=Papers Past |access-date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817134731/https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/AJHR1949-I.2.1.2.18 |url-status=live}}</ref>}} stated that India wished to remain part of the Commonwealth, and regarded the King as the symbol of the voluntary association of the countries of the Commonwealth "and as such the Head of the Commonwealth". By implication, this allowed India and other nations to become republics without leaving the Commonwealth. When [[History of India (1947–present)|India adopted]] a [[Constitution of India|republican constitution]] on 26 January 1950, George VI ceased to be [[List of Indian monarchs|its monarch]] (the [[President of India]], [[Rajendra Prasad]], became head of state) and, thereafter, the country regarded him as Head of the Commonwealth.

George VI's daughter, [[Elizabeth II]], became Head of the Commonwealth upon her accession on 6 February 1952, stating at the time, "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."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/34493/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/ |title=Head of the Commonwealth |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |access-date=23 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331201736/http://www.thecommonwealth.org/Internal/34493/150757/head_of_the_commonwealth/ |archive-date=31 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The following year, a [[Royal Style and Titles Act|royal styles and titles act]] was passed in each of the Commonwealth realms, adding, for the first time, the term ''Head of the Commonwealth'' to the monarch's titles.

The Queen had a [[Flags of Elizabeth II#Personal flag|personal flag]] created in December 1960 to symbolise her as Head of the Commonwealth without being associated with her role as queen of any particular country. Over time, the flag replaced the [[British royal standard]] when the Queen visited Commonwealth countries of which she was head of state, but did not possess a royal standard for that country,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.royal.uk/personal-flags |title=Personal Flags |publisher=Royal Household |accessdate=27 July 2022 |archive-date=7 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160507180249/https://www.royal.uk/personal-flags |url-status=live}}</ref> or of which she was not head of state, as well as on Commonwealth occasions in the United Kingdom. When the Queen visited the headquarters of the [[Commonwealth Secretariat]] in London, this personal standard—not any of her royal standards—was raised.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page5467.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119134240/http://www.royalinsight.gov.uk/output/Page5467.asp |archive-date=19 November 2008 |title=Mailbox |publisher=Royal Insight |page=3 |date=September 2006}}</ref>
[[File:Queen Elizabeth II and the Prime Ministers of the Commonwealth Nations, at Windsor Castle (1960 Commonwealth Prime Minister's Conference).jpg|thumb|left|Queen [[Elizabeth II]] with the prime ministers of the Commonwealth, including [[Kwame Nkrumah]] (third from right), at [[Windsor Castle]], May 1960]]

[[South Africa]] was barred from re-entering the Commonwealth after it became a republic in 1961, as many Commonwealth members, particularly those in Africa and Asia, as well as Canada, were hostile to its policy of racial [[apartheid]]. Through the 1980s, Queen Elizabeth II sided with the majority of Commonwealth heads of government, and against her British prime minister, [[Margaret Thatcher]], on the matter of imposing [[Sanctions (law)|sanctions]] on apartheid South Africa,<ref name="Harris">{{citation |url=https://www.thewhig.com/2013/12/13/this-wonderful-man----the-queen-and-nelson-mandela |last=Harris |first=Carolyn |title='This Wonderful Man' -- The Queen and Nelson Mandela |date=13 December 2013 |newspaper=The Kingston Whig Standard |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220909133355/http://www.thewhig.com/2013/12/13/this-wonderful-man----the-queen-and-nelson-mandela |url-status=live}}</ref> a point echoed by former [[Commonwealth Secretary-General]] [[Shridath Ramphal]], who said, "so steadfast was the Queen to the antiapartheid cause ... that, once again, she stood firm against the position of Thatcher".<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/commonwealth/opinion-the-queen-and-her-stand-against-racism-in-the-commonwealth/ |last=Ramphal |first=Shridath |title=The Queen and her stand against racism in the Commonwealth |date=30 March 2021 |journal=The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=290–291 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |doi=10.1080/00358533.2021.1904611 |s2cid=233464382 |access-date=12 February 2023 |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213005805/https://www.commonwealthroundtable.co.uk/commonwealth/opinion-the-queen-and-her-stand-against-racism-in-the-commonwealth/ |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> South Africa was re-admitted to the Commonwealth in 1994, following its [[1994 South African general election|first multiracial elections]] that year.<ref>{{cite book |author=Commonwealth Observer Group |title=The National and Provincial Elections in South Africa, 2 June 1999 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vOVHuLGt-YwC&pg=PA7 |year=1999 |page=7 |isbn=978-0-85092-626-2 |access-date=2 May 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164807/https://books.google.com/books?id=vOVHuLGt-YwC&pg=PA7 |url-status=live}}</ref> Former Canadian Prime Minister [[Brian Mulroney]] said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid in the country.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Geddes |first=John |title=The day she descended into the fray |journal=Maclean's |edition=Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years |year=2012 |page=72}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacQueen |first1=Ken |last2=Treble |first2=Patricia |title=The Jewel in the Crown |journal=Maclean's |edition=Special Commemorative Edition: The Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 60 Remarkable years |year=2012 |pages=43–44}}</ref>

While the Queen never spoke publicly on the matter of apartheid, she was in 1961 photographed dancing with President [[Kwame Nkrumah]] of Ghana during her visit to [[Accra]], celebrating Ghana's establishment as a republic (also removing [[Queen of Ghana|Elizabeth as head of state]]) within the Commonwealth the year before. This act was taken as the Queen's symbolic expression of her anti-apartheid stance;<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.biography.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-ghana-1961-trip |last=Kettler |first=Sara |title=How Queen Elizabeth II's Controversial Trip to Ghana Changed the Future of the Commonwealth |date=7 March 2019 |publisher=Biography/Hearst Digital Media |accessdate=2 May 2023 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206031629/https://www.biography.com/news/queen-elizabeth-ii-ghana-1961-trip |url-status=live}}</ref> the image offended the white South African government.<ref name="Harris" /> However, Elizabeth's visit, made despite recent bombings in the capital, was mainly intended to keep Ghana in the Commonwealth amid fears the country was getting too close to the [[Soviet Union]].<ref>{{citation |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/royal-family/article/queen-dancing-in-ghana-the-story-behind-her-iconic-visit-to-save-the-commonwealth-8cg98tbhb |last1=Vickers |first1=Hugo |last2=Foster |first2=Alice |last3=Low |first3=Valentine |title=Queen dancing in Ghana: The story behind her iconic visit to save the Commonwealth |date=26 March 2018 |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=25 August 2021 |archive-date=11 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811194400/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/queen-dancing-in-ghana-the-story-behind-her-iconic-visit-to-save-the-commonwealth-8cg98tbhb |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the [[Death and funeral of Elizabeth II|Queen's death]] in 2022, King [[Charles III]] became Head of the Commonwealth. He delivered his first [[Commonwealth Day]] message on 13 March 2023, in the week that marked the 10th anniversary of the Charter of the Commonwealth, which Charles III said, "gives expression to our defining values—peace and justice; tolerance, respect, and solidarity; care for our environment and for the most vulnerable among us".<ref>{{citation |url=https://thecommonwealth.org/news/2023-commonwealth-day-message-his-majesty-king-charles-iii |author=Charles III |title=2023 Commonwealth Day Message from His Majesty King Charles II |date=13 March 2023 |publisher=Commonwealth Secretariat |accessdate=2 May 2023 |archive-date=2 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230502063256/https://thecommonwealth.org/news/2023-commonwealth-day-message-his-majesty-king-charles-iii |url-status=live}}</ref>