Prince Charles to be next head of Commonwealth

Commonwealth leaders have agreed that Prince Charles will become the next head of the organisation after the Queen, it has emerged, in one of the less surprising diplomatic developments of recent months.

The role is not hereditary, but the Queen, who turns 92 on Saturday, used the ongoing Commonwealth heads of government (Chogm) gathering in London to say it was her “sincere wish” to be succeeded by her son.

Commonwealth leaders, who were meeting at Windsor Castle on the second and final day of the formal Chogm programme, had agreed to her wish, sources told the Press Association and others.

After the Queen made her wishes known, there would have been little prospect of the 53 Commonwealth leaders and foreign ministers, who met at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, not endorsing the plan.

Addressing what is most likely her last Chogm summit – she no longer flies long distances and it is not due to return to the UK for some years – the monarch said: “It is my sincere wish that the Commonwealth will continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations, and will decide that one day the Prince of Wales should carry on the important work started by my father in 1949.”

Earlier on Friday, the foreign minister of Vanuatu, Ralph Regenvanu, supported Charles, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that “we see it almost naturally that it should be the British royal family because it is the Commonwealth after all”.

He added that there was no discussion in the island state regarding a different Commonwealth leader.

At a Buckingham Palace dinner on Thursday evening, the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, said he had been “made to understand she’ll be winding down her duties as head of the Commonwealth”.

The Queen has been head of the Commonwealth since coming to the throne in 1952.

The Chogm summit was due to discuss subjects including efforts to combat marine plastics, cyber security and trade.