“The Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the Empires of the past.”

The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 56 independent and equal sovereign states, embracing some 2.7 billion people across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, Europe and the Pacific.

Its members include some of the world’s largest nations and some of its smallest. They represent an extraordinary diversity of peoples, cultures, religions, languages and political traditions. What unites them is not subordination to a single government, but voluntary co-operation and a commitment to shared principles including peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, good governance and sustainable development.

Although the Commonwealth has its historical roots in the British Empire, the modern Commonwealth is something fundamentally different: an association of independent nations in which every member has an equal voice, regardless of its population, wealth or geographical size.

 From Empire to Commonwealth 

The development of the Commonwealth took place gradually as parts of the British Empire achieved increasing degrees of self-government and, eventually, full independence.

An important stage came with the Statute of Westminster 1931, which recognised the legislative independence of the self-governing Dominions. The decisive development in the formation of the modern Commonwealth, however, came in 1949.

India had achieved independence in 1947 and intended to become a republic, while nevertheless wishing to remain within the Commonwealth. The resulting London Declaration of 1949 made this possible.

The Declaration recognised the member nations as free and equal and accepted King George VI as Head of the Commonwealth and as the symbol of their free association. From that point onward, allegiance to the British Crown was no longer a condition of Commonwealth membership.

This settlement transformed what had developed from an imperial relationship into the modern Commonwealth of Nations.

The Crown nevertheless retains an important and distinctive place within the history and life of the Commonwealth.

His Majesty King Charles III is Head of the Commonwealth, succeeding his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, upon his Accession in September 2022.

The position of Head of the Commonwealth is separate from the office of King of the United Kingdom and is not hereditary as a matter of Commonwealth constitutional arrangement. At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in 2018, the leaders of the member states agreed that the then Prince of Wales should succeed Queen Elizabeth II as Head of the Commonwealth.

The role is principally symbolic and unifying. The Head of the Commonwealth does not govern the organisation or exercise constitutional authority over its member states.

The late Queen Elizabeth II devoted considerable attention to the Commonwealth throughout her long reign and played an exceptional personal role in its development. King Charles III has continued that association, both as Head of the Commonwealth and as Sovereign of the Commonwealth Realms.

The King is Head of State of 15 independent Commonwealth countries, known collectively as the Commonwealth Realms:

Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Belize; Canada; Grenada; Jamaica; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Solomon Islands; Tuvalu; and the United Kingdom.

Each Realm is an independent sovereign state with its own constitution and government. Although the same person is Monarch of each, the constitutional position of the Crown in one Realm is legally distinct from its position in another.

The United Kingdom therefore does not govern the other Realms, nor are they dependencies of the United Kingdom. Their shared monarchy represents an unusual example of several independent nations voluntarily sharing the same Sovereign.

The Commonwealth is itself neither a monarchical nor a republican organisation. Its membership embraces both systems of government.

In addition to the 15 Commonwealth Realms, five Commonwealth countries have monarchs of their own:

Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia and Tonga.

Malaysia provides a particularly interesting example of the adaptability of the monarchical principle. Its federal King, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, is chosen for a five-year term from among the hereditary rulers of nine of the Malaysian states.

Altogether, therefore, 20 of the 56 Commonwealth member states are monarchies, while the remaining 36 are republics.

This remarkable constitutional diversity demonstrates that membership of the Commonwealth is compatible with very different forms of national government.

While most Commonwealth members have some historical constitutional connection with Britain or another Commonwealth country, membership is no longer restricted to former territories of the British Empire.

Mozambique, formerly a Portuguese territory, joined in 1995.

Rwanda, which had previously been administered by Germany and Belgium, joined in 2009. Rwanda had itself possessed an ancient monarchy until the political upheavals which resulted in its abolition in 1961, shortly before the country achieved independence.

In 2022, Gabon and Togo, both former French territories, became the 55th and 56th members of the Commonwealth.

Their admission illustrates how the Commonwealth has developed beyond its imperial origins into a wider international association whose attraction rests increasingly upon shared institutions, values, relationships and opportunities for co-operation.

The principles of the modern Commonwealth are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.

Member countries affirm their commitment to democracy, human rights, international peace and security, tolerance and respect, freedom of expression, the separation of powers, the rule of law, good governance, sustainable development and the importance of civil society.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965 and based at Marlborough House in London, assists member governments and encourages practical co-operation between them.

Commonwealth Heads of Government normally meet every two years at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to consider matters of common concern and determine the priorities of the association.

Alongside governmental co-operation there exists a much wider Commonwealth family embracing educational institutions, professional bodies, charities, cultural organisations, sporting associations and countless personal relationships between people across the world.

The Commonwealth Games, Commonwealth Day and numerous professional and voluntary organisations are visible expressions of these wider connections.

For The Crown Society, the Commonwealth provides a particularly important example of the capacity of institutions to evolve while preserving historical continuity.

The Crown, once associated with an Empire governed from Britain, became instrumental in the transition towards an association of independent and equal nations. Today it remains the constitutional foundation of 15 Commonwealth Realms, while the wider Commonwealth brings those monarchies together with other monarchies and republics in voluntary fellowship.

The Commonwealth does not require its members to accept monarchy, and the Headship of the Commonwealth should not be confused with sovereignty over its member nations. Nevertheless, the historical contribution of the Crown — and particularly the personal service of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III — cannot properly be separated from the story of the Commonwealth’s development.

It is perhaps one of the most remarkable legacies of constitutional evolution: nations once connected through Empire choosing, after independence, to retain a voluntary association founded upon equality, friendship and co-operation.

56 independent and equal member countries
Approximately 2.7 billion people
15 Commonwealth Realms sharing King Charles III as Sovereign
5 further Commonwealth countries with their own monarchs
36 republics
1949 — the London Declaration and birth of the modern Commonwealth
1965 — establishment of the Commonwealth Secretariat
2022 — Gabon and Togo become the newest member states

 His Majesty King Charles III — Head of the Commonwealth