Meghan and Harry: The Real Story

by Lady Colin Campbell

The timing of the romance was regarded as being particularly propitious with regards to the Commonwealth of Nations. For some time now, the Headship of that august institution had been a feature of discussion amongst the 53 member states. The position is not hereditary. King George VI had been its first Head, followed by his daughter Queen Elizabeth II, whose love of the Commonwealth is superseded only by that for the country of her birth. She is respected greatly amongst the many Heads of Government representing the other 52 formerly British colonies, with whom she has worked throughout her long reign. There had been many occasions, such as the crises involving Rhodesia and South Africa, when the Commonwealth had come perilously close to fragmenting. The Queen was credited with having kept it together, her commitment, wisdom and colour-blindness the glue that had held it together. But she was now over ninety, and the subject of her successor had been mooted for at least a decade. Some of the countries wanted one of their own to be appointed the next head, while others, being mindful of the self-interestedness of some states and the dangerous corruption of others, thought the neutrality of the British monarch would safeguard its integrity in a way no one else could. The troublesome issue of race sometimes reared its ugly head, with some of the black nations querying why an institution with a larger black than white population should be headed up by the head of a family tha...