{"id":5846,"date":"2022-11-10T13:08:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T13:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crestnetwork.com\/?p=5846"},"modified":"2022-11-10T13:09:25","modified_gmt":"2022-11-10T13:09:25","slug":"the-commonwealth-queen-elizabeth-ii-and-king-charles-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crestnetwork.com\/the-commonwealth-queen-elizabeth-ii-and-king-charles-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"The Commonwealth, Queen Elizabeth II And King Charles III"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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When Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8th<\/sup> (at the age of 96), she had been the British monarch for 70 years. A very small percentage of people living today can remember back to when she wasn\u2019t queen. Here we offer an admiring, albeit brief, look at some things you probably didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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King George VI\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

George VI<\/strong> (Albert Frederick Arthur George (1895 \u2013 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 1936 until his death in 1952. He was concurrently the last Emperor of India until August 1947, when the British Raj was dissolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The future George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria; he was named Albert at birth after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort, and was known as “Bertie” to his family and close friends. His father ascended to the throne as George V in 1910. As the second son of the king, Albert was not expected to inherit the throne, and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Prince Edward, the heir apparent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Edward ascended to the throne as Edward VIII after their father died in 1936, but abdicated later that year to marry the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. As heir presumptive to Edward VIII, Albert thereby became the third monarch of the House of Windsor, taking the name George VI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

George VI was seen as sharing the hardships of the common people and his popularity soared during World War II. His younger brother the Duke of Kent was killed while in active service. George became known as a symbol of British determination to win the war, but the British Empire declined. Ireland had largely broken away, followed by the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. George relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948 and instead adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. Beset by smoking-related health problems in the later years of his reign, he died of a coronary thrombosis in 1952 and was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What is the Commonwealth?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides her role as matriarch of\u00a0the British\u00a0royal family for more than seven decades,\u00a0Queen Elizabeth II was an important figure in many other\u00a0countries as the head of the Commonwealth (formerly known as the British Commonwealth).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of\u00a056 independent and equal countries. It is home to 2.5\u00a0billion people and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. 32\u00a0of its members are small states (including many island nations), and all of its member governments have agreed to shared goals\u00a0like development, democracy and peace. Its values and principles are expressed in the\u00a0Commonwealth Charter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Commonwealth’s roots go back centuries to the British Empire, but the current version\u00a0goes back less than 100 years. Today, any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last two countries to join are Gabon and Togo which joined earlier this year. The association had been under the jurisdiction of\u00a0the queen for\u00a0most of its existence, and while King Charles\u00a0III’s reign has begun, it doesn’t necessarily mean he will be head of the Commonwealth.\u00a0He is likely to be, but the head of the Commonwealth is not determined by family lineage; it must be chosen by the Commonwealth leaders.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association was formed as part of the Balfour Declaration of 1926 (predating both the United Nations and NATO). The goal of the declaration was to form a union in which all countries once under British rule were treated equally, with all countries pledging allegiance to the British king or queen. Today the membership consists of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21 countries in Africa:<\/strong> Botswana, Cameroon, Gabon, (The) Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Kingdom of Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi. Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8 Asian countries: <\/strong>Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

13 countries in the Caribbean and Americas: <\/strong>Antigua and Barbuda, (The) Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and The Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 European countries: <\/strong>Cyprus, Malta, United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 Pacific Island countries: <\/strong>Australia, <\/strong>Fiji, Kirbati, Nauru, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanatu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Commonwealth (headquartered in London) is often described as a ‘family’ of nations. At the heart of this family are three intergovernmental organizations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n