During Charles and Camilla’s visit to Samoa, the importance of the Commonwealth was a key aspect of their trip, with The King opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
It is the first time that Charles has attended the summit since acceding to the throne in September 2022. Prior to this year’s meeting, His Majesty has issued speeches to coincide with Commonwealth day; 2024 saw a pre-recorded message shared for the Commonwealth Day Service due to his cancer diagnosis and treatment.
Charles attends CHOGM 2024. (Royal Family)
Charles opened his speech by stating it was a ‘enormous pleasure and pride’ to be at CHOGM and expressed thanks to the ‘Government and people of Samoa for your warm-hearted hospitality, and for showing us all the ‘Island Way’, which I recall so fondly ever since I first visited the Pacific region almost six decades ago’.
Reflecting on his family’s relationship with the Commonwealth, The King noted how the family of 56 nations meant a ‘great deal’ to Elizabeth II and that the Commonwealth has shaped his own life for as long as he can remember. Charles continued to add how he has ‘travelled to almost every corner of the Commonwealth’, after he conducted his first ever visit to a Commonwealth country aged 5 in 1954 to Malta. He noted that he has met ‘remarkable people in every conceivable walk of life, and learned a great deal from so many proud cultures and traditions’.
His longstanding connections with the Commonwealth has given him ‘an unshakeable faith in the special nature of our Commonwealth and the extraordinary value it holds’ and states that all members ‘are equal in this unique and voluntary association’.
‘This year, as you all know, is the 75th anniversary of the Commonwealth – and, incidentally, shortly to be my 76th! – and throughout that time we have committed ourselves to developing free and democratic societies and promoting peace and prosperity for all.
‘This endeavour underpins how we understand and tackle contemporary and emerging challenges – rooted in our shared belief in the rule of law and an international order where every nation has a voice’.
As Head of the Commonwealth, The King has addressed Commonwealth leaders at the official Opening Ceremony of #CHOGM2024. pic.twitter.com/fV0OOgSiTx
— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) October 25, 2024
‘Painful aspects of our past’ – The King about slavery
Speaking about ‘horrifying conflict and challenges of the greatest magnitude’ seen across the world today, the Monarch explained that the Commonwealth connections are ‘more precious than ever’ and that we are wiser and stronger together, as well as ‘more able to respond to the demands of our time’.
Charles then referenced the ‘painful aspects of our past’ – referring to slavery – with many Commonwealth leaders hoping that The King would use this speaking opportunity to issue an apology for Britain’s role in the slave trade: it is estimated 12.5 million people were transported as slaves from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean between the 16th century and 1807, when the trading of enslaved people was outlawed. However, it wasn’t until 1838 that slavery was abolished in British colonies, freeing those working as slaves.
His Majesty did not explicitly engage on this issue but did acknowledge it. He said ‘our cohesion requires that we acknowledge where we have come from’ and ‘vital that we understand our history’ in order ‘to guide us to make the right choices in the future’. The King continued where inequalities exist in society ‘we must find the right ways, and the right language, to address them’.
‘None of us can change the past. But we can commit, with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure’.
Speaking about how the Commonwealth is a ‘genuine opportunity for all’, Charles reflects on how this principle has guided him throughout his entire life and has tried to do, in whatever way that he can to ‘foster opportunity – particularly for young people and for those whose voices might not otherwise be heard’.
The King is directly speaking about The Prince’s Trust (now known as The King’s Trust), where he wanted to improve the lives of disadvantaged young individuals in the UK and, as such, founded the Trust in 1976, when the UK was experiencing record levels of unemployment and spiralling inflation.
The burden of the climate crisis
Charles went on to discuss another passion of his – tackling climate change – stressing that he has done his best to emphasise for many years the large threat it poses, reminding audiences that it continues to be a topic of discussion after all these years.
He added how we’re ‘well past believing it is a problem for the future, since it is already, already undermining the development gains we have long fought for. This year alone, we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada. Lives, livelihoods and human rights are at risk across the Commonwealth’.
‘I can only offer every encouragement for action, with unequivocal determination, to arrest rising temperatures by cutting emissions, building resilience as far as possible to both the current and forecast impacts of climate change, and conserving and restoring Nature both on land and in the sea,’ The King said. ‘If we do not, then inequalities across the Commonwealth, and beyond, will only be exacerbated with the potential to fuel division and conflict’.
Charles concluded his speech by talking about how he will continue the Commonwealth’s journey ‘however many years God grants’ – a similar sentiment shared in Elizabeth II’s first speech to the Commonwealth in 1952 and Charles’ first address as Monarch.
