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THE COMMONWEALTH IN SHORT:
The Continuation of the British Empire. Still the Head of the Commonwealth is Queen Elizabeth II.
The Commonwealth represent 53 countries (incl. India). 3 EU Countries: GB, Malta and Cyprus.
Totally they have about 1/3 OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION !!!!!!!


State visit to Malta: Queen hints to sceptical leaders that Prince should be next Head of the Commonwealth
Dictators, despots and avowed republicans prepare to meet the Queen as she attends a summit in Malta

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/12019939/Watch-live-State-visit-to-Malta-Queen-prepares-to-meet-all-53-Commonwealth-leaders.html



By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter, Valletta

2:02PM GMT 27 Nov 2015

The Queen has given Commonwealth leaders a heavy hint that they should vote for the Prince of Wales as her successor as head of the organisation as she made what could be her last speech to the leaders of the 53 member countries.



The Queen delivers a speech during the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta (AFP)

The Prince of Wales is desperate to become Head of the Commonwealth when he becomes king, but the post is not hereditary and many leaders want an elected head to make the organisation more democratic.

He is accompanying his mother on a visit to Malta for the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where he will try to strengthen his hand by meeting as many leaders as possible in person.

It is only the fourth time he has attended one of the summits, but he will stand in for the Queen at the next two gatherings as they will be too far away for her to make the trip.

In a speech to declare the summit open, the Queen said she could not “wish to have been better supported and represented in the Commonwealth than by The Prince of Wales who continues to give so much to it with great distinction”.

She reserved her greatest praise for the Duke of Edinburgh, saying: “For more than six decades of being Head of the Commonwealth, a responsibility I have cherished, I have had the fortune of the constancy of The Duke of Edinburgh.”

She added that “Prince Philip has brought boundless energy and commitment, for which I am indebted”.

Referring to her time living on the island in the early days of her marriage, the Queen said: “Prince Philip and I first came to live here in 1949, the same year in which the Commonwealth was founded.

"The 66 years since then have seen a vast expansion of human freedom: the forging of independent nations and new Commonwealth members, many millions of people sprung from the trap of poverty, and the unleashing of the talents of a global population."

However, she spoke amid controversy over the failure of delegates to pay any attention to Malta’s growing refugee crisis.

None of the national leaders or members of the Royal family attending the summit are scheduled to visit the refugee camps on Malta’s southern coast, where 2,000 people from North Africa are living after being rescued from overloaded boats.

While the leaders of the member nations discuss topics including climate change and polio vaccines, they will be turning a deaf ear to Malta’s most pressing problem.





The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrive at the opening ceremony for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta (PA)

Maria Pisani, who runs the advocacy group Integra, said: “I'm interested in what the Commonwealth are going to do. I want to see change. I want to see action and not just words.”

She was not surprised the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall had no refugee camps on their agenda during their visit to Malta as: “The Queen's on a very shaky branch as far as that's concerned.



David Cameron arrives at the opening ceremony (PA)

“Because the UK government is doing very little to address the problems of migration or take its share of the responsibility. It's been appalling.

“The irony is that the Commonwealth is all about how migration benefits people. If it wasn't for migration, there wouldn't be a Commonwealth.”

Flags wave on a balcony of the Mediterranean Conference Centre where the Commonwealth heads of Government meeting is scheduled to open in Valletta, Malta (AP)

Neil Falzon, who runs Aditus, a local human rights organisation, said he doubted whether the Maltese government would want to show off the camps.

“They are in a pretty bad state, and I think if any delegate or dignitary had wanted to visit, I'm sure the government here would have done an organised tour that would have avoided the bad parts,” he said.

Mr Falzon said he hoped Commonwealth members will put "peer pressure" on Malta to do better on migrants, and vice versa.

A map of Commonwealth countries:

(You have to go to the website to see that map!)

Martin Xuereb, director of Moas, which has saved 12,000 refugees in the past two years by fishing them out of the Mediterranean as they try to cross in overloaded boats, said a royal visit would have been welcome.

He said: “The actor Colin Firth came to see us. Others came. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd is a great supporter. Michael Fassbender was pictured with a Moas t-shirt on.”

A Buckingham Palace spokesman said the agenda for the Queen and other members of the Royal family had been suggested by Malta, which did not include refugee camps on its list of places they should visit.



The Duke of Edinburgh whispers in the ear of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna (i-Images)

Meanwhile, the Duke of Edinburgh returned to the Anglican church where he and the Queen worshipped when they lived in Malta and told a Roman Catholic archbishop a “secret” about religion.

Whispering behind his hand, the Duke, 94, said to the Most Reverend Charles Scicluna: “I’ll let you into a little secret. We are all Christians, you know!”

The archbishop laughed and said later: "He obviously couldn't resist making that point when he spotted a Roman Catholic archbishop, but he's right: we should all be working towards Christian unity.

“There is one baptism that unites us all regardless of whether we are Catholic or Anglican.”



The Duke of Edinburgh after he whispered in the ear of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna (R) (i-Images )

St Paul's Cathedral in the capital Valletta is one of only two Church of England places of worship on the Roman Catholic island still so deeply religious that a ban on divorce was only lifted four years ago.

After a short service he met worshippers including four veterans who served in the Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) of which he is colonel in chief. When they told him some of them had lived in Malta for 40 years, he asked: "What are you running away from?"

He later told Gozo resident Jean Kingsley that the area was famous for its tomato ketchup. "If they didn't export it they would be up to here in the stuff," he joked, pointing to his chest. He then admonished Dean Bucknell, 40, for having a beard and Paul Tillbrook, 45, for not being clean shaven enough. "It isn't difficult, you know, to shave in the morning!"

Mr Tillbrook said afterwards: "It was hilarious. He was on cracking form. He is amazing for his age."

Chaplaincy warden Lieutenant Commander Clive Bennington, 67, remembers the Queen playing with him as a little boy when his father Edward was also serving in the Royal Navy on the island.

He still has a photograph of himself, aged three, and his sister Angela, 11, being watched over by the then Princess Elizabeth in 1951 as they picnicked at Tigne Point on the Grand Harbour.

He said: “I remember it very clearly. My mother had a migraine and couldn't look after me so the job fell to my sister. My father had given me a a Dinky toy car to try to keep me occupied but I wasn't very happy.

"My sister was trying in vain to comfort me, but not doing a very good job, so the Queen stepped in and managed to calm me down."
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