Explained | Will the future of the Commonwealth change?

After Queen Elizabeth’s reign, will several nations go the Barbados way and shed ties with Britain’s monarchy? 

The story so far: The death of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the country’s longest serving ruler, who reigned for over 70 years, marks not only the end of an era for the British monarchy, but also a turning point for the 14 Commonwealth realms of which she was the Head of State. There has been a significant transformation of the socioeconomic milieu in these countries compared to the Elizabethan era, including calls in several nations to establish a republic and break free of historical ties to the British monarchy. Thus, it is possible that during the reign of the incumbent King Charles III, the Queen’s successor, more nations will follow in the footsteps of Barbados, which in 2021 became the 18th country to remove the British monarch from the role of head of state and substitute them with a national government functionary.

The Commonwealth of Nations is a group of 56 countries comprised mostly of former British colonies. While members of the Commonwealth are predominantly located in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and the Pacific, with many of them emerging economies, the three European members of the group are Cyprus, Malta, and the U.K. The developed nations of the Commonwealth are Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.

The Commonwealth consists of both republics and realms. The British monarch is the Head of State for the realms, whereas the republics are ruled by elected governments, except in the the case of five countries — Brunei Darussalam, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malaysia, and Tonga — each a self-governed monarchy. The realms are comprised of 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, the Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu.

Even if the situation is changing vis-à-vis the realms and their Heads of State, the broader Commonwealth group, of which India and other South Asian countries are members, remains strong and fosters policy coordination among its members through its Heads of Government Meetings, a feature that has gained additional salience in the context of post-pandemic economic recovery. In this regard, Queen Elizabeth played a critical role in championing the organisation and maintaining the group’s relevance, regularly travelling to meet with leaders of Commonwealth nations across the world.

This has not always been the case. During the Queen’s third and final visit to India in 1997, many expected an apology for the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919, carried out by the erstwhile colonial government, and ordered by General Reginald Dyer. Yet that apology never came, and instead the Queen only referenced the killings during a banquet speech when she said, “It is no secret that there have been some difficult episodes in our past. Jallianwala Bagh is a distressing example.” Tactless remarks by her husband, Prince Philip, questioning the number of deaths in the massacre, added salt to injured sentiment.

It was also in 1997 that the U.K. handed over control of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, thereby losing after 156 years what was considered to be one of the most important colonies in Asia.

More recently, in March 2022, King Charles’ son and now heir to the throne, Prince William, his wife, Kate, and other royals faced demonstrations and demands for reparations for slavery while on a tour of the Caribbean that also witnessed several gaffes and awkward moments by the visitors from the U.K.