SANDRA CHAPMAN; Commonwealth countries aim for change as Queen slows

The Queen hasn’t been well, what with an attack of Covid and decreasing mobility, we are entitled surely to wonder how long she will keep going before the Royal wheelchair appears in public rather than having her errant second son escort her everywhere.
Her Majesty the Queen visited many of the Commonwealth countries when she was youngerHer Majesty the Queen visited many of the Commonwealth countries when she was younger
Her Majesty the Queen visited many of the Commonwealth countries when she was younger

No, we definitely do not want to see Prince Andrew trying to get back into public life through wheeling his mum about. I’m sure Her Majesty wouldn’t like it much either.

I’m surprised she agreed to her appearance at her late husband’s memorial service with her second son when ideally it should have been Prince Charles doing the honours. We may never know the anger that created at the Palace but the event is over and it did nothing to restore Andrew to the nation’s hearts.

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But a more important and wider issue is the future of the Commonwealth of which the Queen is head. Those of us of a certain age will remember seeing Her Majesty on all those trips, having had to leave a young family behind for weeks.

The Queen most likely was delighted to see all those countries and meet her subjects while she was still youthful enough. They appeared to be glad to see her from what I recall.

The countries of the Commonwealth enjoyed their Royal connections. But the world is changing and there are republican elements in some of those countries who feel the Royal connection belongs to the past and they want to move on.

This change may not go down well in Royal circles though the Queen has said in the past that ‘if it’s the settled will of the people to ditch the Crown then that is their choice’. That would almost certainly mean a diminishment of the powers of the Monarchy. Despite that there is ‘a swelling wave of Republicanism’ within Caribbean countries which could see the Royal role change dramatically.

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Some of the Commonwealth countries were built on the backs of the slave trade and the young in those countries today want that recognised. When Prince William was there recently he expressed his ‘profound sorrow’ for slavery which ‘should never have happened’. He is part of this this young generation which wants to see change.

When he succeeds to the Throne Prince Charles and Camilla are likely to take a whirl around the countries of the Commonwealth. He will be familiar with some of them anyway but Camilla probably not. Now in her 70s, never looking comfortable with public life, I think she would find such trips exhausting.

When they were in Jamaica as part of the trip it’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness spoke of his country’s ambitions to be ‘an independent, developed, prosperous country’.

Prince William could have difficult years ahead, which could explain why he sometimes looked uncomfortable on his Caribbean trip.

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Surely Kate tried too hard to dress in the local fashion. It wasn’t a good look. But perhaps when it’s William’s turn on the Throne and they visit Commonwealth countries hopefully she will dress like a Royal should. Surely that’s what the locals would expect?

Could you see Princess Anne bare her shoulders and put flowers in her hair or appear in a wetsuit to do a spot of diving in any Commonwealth country?

I hope William and Kate don’t get into the habit of dressing as they think their guests would like them to. Kate has excellent British dress style and she should stick to it.

When we see how frail the Queen looks these days, for those of us who remember her in her prime, it’s hard to believe that this woman who has always been with us and who has dedicated herself to her people in whatever corner of the world they live, can no longer get around without some help.

Without her ‘strength and stay’ in the form of her late husband Prince Philip, she faces loneliness and no doubt sadness that her life has passed so quickly.

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