The Prince of Wales has told Commonwealth leaders that maintaining the queen as head of state or becoming a republic is “a matter for each member country to decide”.
Charles made the remarks during the opening ceremony of a summit of prime ministers and presidents of the Commonwealth in Rwanda. He said he believed these fundamental changes could be made “calmly and without resentment.”
Their observations are likely to be interpreted as a recognition of forces already in motion, as several Caribbean nations have suggested they may abandon the British monarchy and elect their own heads of state.
Barbados took the historic move of replacing the queen as head of state in November last year and elected its first president during a ceremony attended by the prince.
Represents the Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), where her visit has been overshadowed by a dispute over alleged comments criticizing the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. .
The prince’s office at Clarence House has refused to be lured by comments made by Boris Johnson, who on Thursday appeared to have struck a blow at the royal and those who had attacked his plans to forcibly evict them. asylum bidders in Rwanda.
The prime minister said before a meeting with Charles on Friday: “People have to keep an open mind about politics, critics have to keep an open mind about politics.”
In response, a Clarence House spokesman said, “As we said earlier, we will not comment on alleged remarks made in private except to say that the prince is politically neutral. Politics is a government thing.”
In the end, the popular meeting after the opening ceremony lasted 15 minutes. Before the summit began, the Prince and Johnson had met briefly, with the Prime Minister nodding in deference and smiling as he shook hands with Charles.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Charles said: “The Commonwealth contains within it countries that have had constitutional relations with my family, some that continue to do so, and more and more those that do not.” they have had none.
“I want to make it clear, as I said before, that the constitutional order of each member, as a republic or monarchy, is purely a matter for each member country. The benefit of long life brings me the experience that arrangements like these can change, calmly and without resentment. “
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s visit to the Caribbean in March seemed to raise the question of other kingdoms, nations where the queen is the head of state, breaking up with the British monarchy.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every business day in the morning at 7am
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who has traveled to Rwanda for Chogm, suggested to the couple that their country could be the next to become a republic.
A few days after Prince William and Kate left Belize, the country’s constitutional and political reform minister, Henry Charles Usher, told the Belize parliament: “Perhaps it is time for Belize to take the next step in truly owning Belize. our independence. But it is a matter for the people of Belize to decide. “
Prior to the opening ceremony in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Charles, who has been joined by the Duchess of Cornwall, will meet with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame, Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Patricia Scotland, and Johnson. and his wife, Carrie.