King Charles hails ‘extraordinary potential’ of Commonwealth

1 week ago 29

King Charles has hailed the “extraordinary potential” of the Commonwealth and spoken of the “imperative to act” connected its ideals to amended the lives of its 2.6 cardinal people, successful his archetypal Commonwealth Day connection arsenic monarch.

Delivered from the large pulpit astatine Westminster Abbey, Charles recalled his mother’s “particular pride” successful Commonwealth Day, and said: “The Commonwealth has been a changeless successful my ain life, and yet its diverseness continues to amaze and animate me.”

He told the 2,000-strong congregation of elder royals, politicians and dignitaries: “It’s adjacent boundless imaginable arsenic a unit for bully successful the satellite demands our highest ambition; its sheer standard challenges america to unite and beryllium bold.”

Members of the royal household including the Prince and Princess of Wales gathered with the king wrong the abbey, which successful 2 months’ clip volition big the coronation.

Delivering the code successful idiosyncratic from the abbey marked a departure from erstwhile messages from Queen Elizabeth II, which were traditionally pre-recorded.

This year’s Commonwealth Day taxable is “forging a sustainable and peaceful communal future”, though it comes astatine a clip erstwhile the royal household has enjoyed thing but a peaceful clip due to the fact that of turbulent relations with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

The Commonwealth Day work of 2020 was the past clip the mates appeared successful nationalist with the royal household earlier their departure from the UK.

The Sussexes person yet to corroborate whether they volition be the coronation connected 6 May but person received email correspondence astir it from Charles’s office.

King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort conscionable   with choristers aft  the Commonwealth Day work  astatine  Westminster Abbey.
King Charles III and Camilla, the Queen Consort conscionable with choristers aft the Commonwealth Day work astatine Westminster Abbey. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Charles was made caput of the 56-nation Commonwealth aft his parent successfully lobbied for him to instrumentality connected the role.

During Monday’s service, a Commonwealth emblem for bid was carried successful the procession of Commonwealth members’ flags to people 2023 arsenic the Commonwealth twelvemonth of peace. The work included philharmonic performances from the saxophonist YolanDa Brown, the West End stars Roshani Abbey and Nuwan Hugh Perera, and the all-female Amalgamation choir from Cyprus.

In his address. Charles noted: “ This week marks the 10th day of the charter of the Commonwealth, which gives look to our defining values: bid and justice; tolerance, respect and solidarity; attraction for our situation and for the astir susceptible among us.

“These are not simply ideals. In each lies an imperative to act, and to marque a applicable quality to the 2.6 cardinal radical who telephone the Commonwealth home.”

skip past newsletter promotion

He continued: “Ours is an relation not conscionable of shared values but of communal intent and associated action. In this we are blessed with the ingenuity and imaginativeness of a 3rd of the world’s population, including 1 and a fractional cardinal radical nether the property of 30.

“Let ours beryllium a Commonwealth that not lone stands unneurotic but strives together, successful restless and applicable pursuit of the planetary communal good.”

Afterwards, Charles, Camilla, the Queen Consort and the attending members of the royal household entertained the Commonwealth caput general, precocious commissioners, overseas affairs ministers and different members of the Commonwealth assemblage astatine a Buckingham Palace reception.

Charles’s Commonwealth connection successful full

Commonwealth Day was an juncture of peculiar pridefulness for my beloved mother, the precocious queen – a treasured accidental to observe our Commonwealth family, to whose work she dedicated her agelong and singular life.

In succeeding Her Majesty arsenic caput of the Commonwealth, I gully large spot from her example, unneurotic with each that I person learned from the bonzer radical I person met passim the Commonwealth implicit truthful galore years.

The Commonwealth has been a changeless successful my ain life, and yet its diverseness continues to amaze and animate me. Its adjacent boundless imaginable arsenic a unit for bully successful the satellite demands our highest ambition; its sheer standard challenges america to unite and beryllium bold.

This week marks the 10th day of the charter of the Commonwealth, which gives look to our defining values: bid and justice; tolerance, respect and solidarity; attraction for our situation and for the astir susceptible among us.

These are not simply ideals. In each lies an imperative to act, and to marque a applicable quality successful the lives of the 2.6 cardinal radical who telephone the Commonwealth home.

Whether connected clime alteration and biodiversity loss, younker accidental and education, planetary health, oregon economical cooperation, the Commonwealth tin play an indispensable relation successful the astir pressing issues of our time. Ours is an relation not conscionable of shared values but of communal intent and associated action.

In this we are blessed with the ingenuity and imaginativeness of a 3rd of the world’s population, including 1 and a fractional cardinal radical nether the property of 30. Our shared humanity contains specified precious diverseness of thought, culture, contented and experience. By listening to each other, we volition find truthful galore of the solutions that we seek.

This bonzer potential, which we clasp successful common, is much than adjacent to the challenges we face. It offers america unparalleled spot not simply to look the future, but to physique it. Here, the Commonwealth has an unthinkable opportunity, and responsibility, to make a genuinely durable aboriginal – 1 that offers the benignant of prosperity that is successful harmony with quality and that volition besides unafraid our unsocial and lone satellite for generations to come.

The myriad connections betwixt our nations person sustained and enriched america for much than 7 decades. Our committedness to peace, advancement and accidental volition prolong america for galore more.

Let ours beryllium a Commonwealth that not lone stands unneurotic but strives together, successful restless and applicable pursuit of the planetary communal good.