Commonwealth of Nations

Blog posts about the Commonwealth of Nations. See our Commonwealth membership page for more information.

Happy Commonwealth Day!

Submitted by LJ Holden on 10 March, 2012 - 10:32

The Director of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Danny Sriskandarajah, posted a link to my article the other day on the local RCS' branch "celebrations" for Commonwealth Day, which largely consist of celebrating the Queen's reign.

Jamaica: referendum to be held

Submitted by LJ Holden on 3 March, 2012 - 17:40

In an interview with the Associated Press, Jamaica's Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, has confirmed that a referendum will be held to create the Jamaican republic. This is great news:

Jamaica: negotiations begin

Submitted by LJ Holden on 18 February, 2012 - 18:39

Jamaica's new government appears to be on track so far to meet its goal of transitioning to a Parliamentary republic by Jamaica's 50th independence anniversary.

The "British" Commonwealth?

Submitted by LJ Holden on 17 January, 2012 - 21:18

Te Ara does a great job at documenting New Zealand's history. However, they've made a mistake here:

New Zealand is a small independent country which plays an active role in the United Nations and the British Commonwealth.

Scotland's independence referendum

Submitted by LJ Holden on 6 November, 2011 - 10:34

Time Magazine has a comprehensive report on the Scottish independence referendum, to be held around 2015. Current polling shows around 49% of Scots and 39% of Britons (I assume that means English, Scots, Welsh and NI voters) support Scottish independence.

Jamaica needs a republican movement

Submitted by LJ Holden on 9 July, 2011 - 17:57

Jamaica celebrates 50 years since gaining political independence from the United Kingdom this year. To build on this theme of independence, Prime Minister Bruce Golding has called on his country to become a republic:

Ireland back in the Commonwealth: good for republicans

Submitted by LJ Holden on 15 May, 2011 - 19:26

The Queen will make an historic visit to Ireland later this week. The visit represents the crossing of the threshold for the Irish people - and perhaps another threshold may soon be crossed. In October, the people of Ireland will go to the polls to elect their head of state, the President of Ireland.

Republic of the Seychelles

Submitted by LJ Holden on 14 May, 2011 - 10:16

The Royal honeymooners are (apparently) honeymooning in the Republic of the Seychelles. The Seychelles is one of the 32 republics within the Commonwealth of Nations.

Charles to open Commonwealth Games

Submitted by LJ Holden on 30 September, 2010 - 20:38

Radical Royalist takes a swipe at India's preparations for the Commonwealth Games while pointing out Prince Charles is to open games in his mother's place.

Heads of State at the Commonwealth Games

Submitted by LJ Holden on 19 September, 2010 - 20:29

The Times of India accidentally lists the Governor-General of New Zealand as head of state. It seems Prince Charles will be representing Great Britain rather than the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth or the Commonwealth realms.

How is the Queen shared amongst the realms?

Submitted by LJ Holden on 12 August, 2010 - 21:14

Just how much time has the Queen spent "reigning" in each of her realms? Why is this question relevant to anything, you ask. Well it seems the monarchists love spinning the nonsense line that the monarchy is "shared". The reality is the monarchy is still very much the British monarchy. Thankfully, the website of the British monarchy once again provides the answers.

It seems out of the 21,357 days of the Queen's reign (58 years and 187 days as at today), 20,607 days have been spent in the United Kingdom, 216 in Canada, 210 in other countries (including Commonwealth and non-Commonwealth countries), 187 in Australia and 137 in New Zealand. Interestingly, it seems the Queen has toured the "settler" realms much more than any other.

So, whenever the monarchists try to tell us the monarchy is shared, let's remember the Queen has been resident in the United Kingdom for at least 97% of her reign. Of that, the Queen has acted as Queen of New Zealand for 0.006% of her reign.

NZ- UK visa arrangements: another argument for the monarchy goes

Submitted by LJ Holden on 28 June, 2010 - 06:05

One common argument we hear in defence of the monarchy in New Zealand is that the 'monarchy protects our links with the UK'; specifically things Kiwis find useful, such as visas for the big OE. As the song by The Front Lawn goes "She went to London to find work there / to claim her colonial birthright".

Prince Charles "could be denied the role of Head of the Commonwealth"

Submitted by LJ Holden on 9 March, 2010 - 12:49
The Telegraph reports that Prince Charles could be "denied" the position of Head of the Commonwealth.

The Coming of the "Shadow King"

Submitted by LJ Holden on 14 December, 2009 - 12:55
It sounds like something out of Lord of the Rings, but sadly this bizarre state of affairs is the constitutional reality for New Zealand: The Sunday Telegraph and Daily Mail reported the excellent research by Republic yesterday that our hereditary head of state's grandsons are to start take over their grandparent's "duties", apparently because their father, who is the actual heir to the throne, is not as popular as they are (Buckingham Palace has, of course, denied the reports). Apparently Prince William is to be groomed as a "shadow King", meaning he's the stand-by option, like the shadow ministers of the United Kingdom (in New Zealand we tend to say the "opposition spokesperson on...", being more egalitarian!). This clearly explains why Prince William is coming to New Zealand in January, and not his father Prince Charles.

If this is Buckingham Palace's strategy for saving the monarchy down under, it's a very risky one. While Prince William certainly is popular amongst younger New Zealanders, who tend to show stronger support for a republic, that popularity is largely based on his celebrity chic. As Prince Charles knows (most New Zealanders old enough will remember Charles drew crowds back in the 60s and 70s, which from the picture's we've seen show a disproportionate number of young females in the crowd!), that will eventually fade with time. Moreover, this Royal tour will be devoid it seems of the sort of pomp and ceremony most people like about the monarchy, because the Palace wants to make the monarchy more "informal".
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