Khaleej Times

Britain’s Prince Charles will take over as head of the Commonweal­th.

- AP

london — Heir to the British throne Prince Charles was approved on Friday as the next head of the Commonweal­th of the UK and its former colonies, according to UK media reports.

Leaders from the 53-nation Commonweal­th, holding a private meeting at Windsor Castle near London, agreed Charles should one day succeed his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, the BBC and other outlets said.

The Commonweal­th was formed as Britain’s former colonies gained their independen­ce, and its first head was the queen’s father, King George VI.

Elizabeth has led the group since taking the throne in 1952. However, the position is not hereditary, and some people have suggested a non-royal leader would be more appropriat­e in the 21st century.

The monarch — who turns 92 on Saturday — said on Thursday that she hoped her son and heir would one day “carry on the important work started by my father in 1949.”

The British government backed Charles to succeed his mother, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he agreed “very much” with the queen’s wishes.

The position is largely symbolic, but the queen’s commitment has been a major force behind the survival of the Commonweal­th. She has visited almost every member country, often multiple times, over her 66-year reign. Charles is a longtime champion of environmen­tal causes, a priority for the Commonweal­th. Its members include small island nations in the Caribbean and Pacific that are among the countries most vulnerable to rising seas, fiercer storms and other effects of global climate change.

Protecting the world’s oceans is high on the agenda at the Commonweal­th meeting, alongside issues such as cybersecur­ity and trade.

Britain has tried to use the biennial heads of government meeting to reinvigora­te a disparate group that takes in 2.4 billion people on five continents but has struggled to carve out a firm place on the world stage. The UK also wants to lay the groundwork for new trade deals with Commonweal­th nations after Britain leaves the European Union next year.

But the summit has been overshadow­ed by uproar over the treatment by UK immigratio­n authoritie­s of some long-term British residents from the Caribbean.

May and other government ministers have apologized repeatedly after it emerged that some people who settled in the UK in the decades after World War II had recently been refused medical care or threatened with deportatio­n because they could not produce paperwork to show their right to reside in Britain. —

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