From the accession of Queen Elizabeth II Commonwealth realm

queen elizabeth ii in 1953

the commonwealth realms prime ministers thereafter discussed matter of new monarch s title, st. laurent stating @ 1953 commonwealth conference important agree on format emphasise fact queen queen of canada, regardless of sovereignty on other commonwealth countries. result new royal style , titles act being passed in each of 7 realms existing (excluding pakistan), identically gave formal recognition separateness , equality of countries involved, , replaced phrase british dominions beyond seas other realms , territories , latter using medieval french word realm (from royaume) in place of dominion. further, @ coronation, elizabeth ii s oath contained provision requiring promise govern according rules , customs of realms, naming each 1 separately. change in perspective summed patrick gordon walker s statement in british house of commons: in country have abandon... sense of property in crown. queen, now, clearly, explicitly , according title, belongs equally realms , commonwealth whole.

in same period, walker suggested british parliament queen should annually spend equal amount of time in each of realms. lord altrincham, in 1957 criticised queen elizabeth ii having court encompassed britain , not commonwealth whole, in favour of idea, did not attract wide support. thought raised viceregal appointments should become trans-commonwealth; governor-general of australia south africa, governor-general of ceylon come new zealand, , on. prime ministers of canada , australia, john diefenbaker , robert menzies, respectively, sympathetic concept, but, again, never put practice.

the principle of complete separation , equality followed in future grants of independence countries became realms, including came through winds of change swept through africa in 1960s, collapse of federation of west indies in 1962, , @ later dates. created commonwealth realm saint kitts , nevis, achieved status in 1983. process of separation completed when residual rights of british parliament in affairs of canada, australia , new zealand reserved statute of westminster repealed in 1980s, through constitution act 1982 canada, australia act 1986 , constitution act 1986 new zealand, , corresponding legislation in britain.

within few years of gaining independence, african realms drafted new constitutions in order become republics within commonwealth; south africa, having been dominion , realm 51 years, became republic in 1961. when white minority government of rhodesia issued unilateral declaration of independence in 1965, prime minister ian smith , ministers continued profess loyalty elizabeth ii, recognising queen of rhodesia. representative in colony, governor sir humphrey gibbs, sacked smith , entire government on orders whitehall. however, action ignored smith. without queen s consent, appointed deputy, clifford dupont, officer administering government perform governor s constitutional duties. intended preliminary step having dupont appointed governor-general. when smith attempted recommend dupont governor-general, elizabeth rejected advice out of hand. never consented becoming queen of rhodesia, nor did accept title. rather, united kingdom–with near-unanimous support of international community–continued maintain gibbs legitimate representative of elizabeth ii in still maintained southern rhodesia, , hence lawful authority in area. state of affairs continued until 1970, when smith s government declared rhodesia republic.

several non-african realms have become republics within commonwealth, starting india in 1950 , pakistan in 1956. recent change mauritius, became republic in 1992. in number of commonwealth realms, including united kingdom, movements have emerged advocating republican government in place of constitutional monarchy; were, , continue be, countered monarchist leagues support existing system and/or celebrate historical , modern connections common monarchy provides. unsuccessful referenda on proposed models of republics have taken place in australia, tuvalu, , saint vincent , grenadines.

on 6 july 2010, queen elizabeth ii addressed united nations in new york city queen of 16 commonwealth realms. following year, portia simpson-miller, prime minister of jamaica, spoke of desire make country republic, while alex salmond, first minister of scotland , leader of scottish national party (which favours scottish independence), stated independent scotland still share monarchy with... uk, as... 16 [sic] other commonwealth countries now. dennis canavan, leader of yes scotland, disagreed , said separate, post-independence referendum should held on matter.

following perth agreement of 2011, commonwealth realms, in accordance convention, engaged in process of amending common line of succession according each country s constitution, ensure order continue identical in every realm. in legislative debates in united kingdom, term commonwealth realm employed.