Fact: The Commonwealth
The Commonwealth — Commonwealth of Nations — is an intergovernmental organization that today consists of 54 independent countries, almost all of which formerly belonged to the British Empire.
The British monarch is head of state in 15 of these countries and is represented in 14 of them by a governor-general (Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Canada, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu).
Five member states are their own monarchies with no connection to the British Regent (Brunei, Lesotho, Malaysia, Swaziland, Tonga). Remaining countries are republics.
The organization has had the name British Commonwealth, but it was changed in 1949 to emphasize that Great Britain does not have a special position.
The Commonwealth lacks a written constitution. Certain principles for the member states have been collected in a special Commonwealth Declaration (the Singapore Declaration) from 1971.
The Commonwealth covers more than a third of the Earth’s land area and had a total population of 2.4 billion in 2020.
Source: The National Encyclopedia
When the Queen took over the throne in 1952, she became regent over millions of people who never chose to be ruled by the British crown.
Today, many of the countries – in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean – are characterized by anger and bitterness towards the former colonial rule. The dark legacy of colonialism is spelled slavery, racism, exploitation and plunder. For many, the Queen came to represent all that during her seven decades on the throne.
In Kenya – the country where Princess Elizabeth was when she was informed of her father’s death – demands have been made for the return of the skull of a resistance leader who was shot dead by the colonial rulers in 1905. According to representatives of the Nandi ethnic group, Koitalel Arap Samoei’s head was severed from the body and sent to England as a war trophy, AFP reports.
Rape and castration
Hours after the Queen’s death, Kenyan lawyer Alice Mugo published a document from 1956 – four years after the Queen’s accession – on Twitter. “Travel Permit,” reads the faded paper that Mugo’s grandmother had to present to the colonial rulers in order to move within their country.
Other Kenyans were held captive in camps under cruel conditions. Tens of thousands of Kenyans were subjected to torture, rape, murder and castration within the framework of the British camp system, reports The New York Times.
“Most of our grandparents were oppressed. I cannot grieve,” Mugo signed Twitter.
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s husband, during the ceremony in Nairobi in 1963 marking the end of British colonial rule in Kenya. No apology
Even from the Caribbean, angry voices are heard after the queen’s passing.
— The riches of the Commonwealth belong to England. That wealth has never been shared with anyone, Bert Samuels, a member of the Jamaican council that deals with historical issues, including the slave trade, told the AP.
During Queen Elizabeth’s time on the throne, the British Empire was transformed into the British Commonwealth (now called simply the Commonwealth), an intergovernmental organization that today consists of 54 independent countries.
Protesters demand an apology and compensation for the slave trade during Prince William’s visit to Kingston, Jamaica in March.
Activist Nadeen Spence states that while many older Jamaicans appreciated the Queen, the younger generation is far more critical.
“The only thing I noticed about the queen’s passing is that she died and never apologized for slavery,” Spence told AP.
— She should have apologized.
Few mourn in the Middle East
In South Africa, Queen Elizabeth’s legacy has long been a contentious issue, writes The New York Times. Following her death, the populist left-wing Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party released a statement saying the queen’s death is “a reminder of a very tragic period in this country and in the history of Africa”.
“The Queen presided over an institution built and sustained by a brutal legacy of dehumanizing millions of people worldwide,” they wrote.
In the Middle East, few people mourn the queen, who is still held by many to be responsible for the pencil marks on a map that underlie many of today’s conflicts in the region.
Even in the ethnically divided Cyprus, there were no condolences, write Cyprus Mail. Many Greek Cypriots remember the 1950s four-year guerrilla war against the British and the Queen’s perceived indifference to the execution of nine Greek Cypriot independence fighters.