Charles’s destiny

WITHOUT doubt, the Windrush scandal has overshadowed this week’s meeting of Commonwealth leaders in London. This is a matter of deep regret.

For at this unique moment in British history, as we leave the EU and set our sights on expanding trade links around the world, there couldn’t be a better time to forge closer ties with our former colonies.

All too often ignored by a Foreign Office fixated on Brussels, the 52 other Commonwealth nations – with a combined population of 2.4billion – offer great opportunities for Britain.

We share a language, heritage and similar legal systems. Unlike the EU with its stifling bureaucracy, the Commonwealth is a loose and adaptable alliance. It is emphatically not, as many on the Left argue, a pointless relic of Britain’s colonial past.

Indeed, a study published last week reveals that Commonwealth ‘advantage’ means trade between members is 20 per cent higher than with other countries.

One of the reasons for its success is the Queen’s constant and unifying presence at its head. As the Prime Minister rightly pointed out yesterday, she has been its ‘steadfast and fervent champion’.

Yesterday Her Majesty made clear it was her ‘sincere wish’ that the Prince of Wales follow in her stead. He, like her, has been a proud and dedicated supporter of the organisation and travelled enthusiastically around Commonwealth states.

It will be a justified tribute to her if he is confirmed today as her successor. And perhaps, when he takes over, Charles will stop meddling quite so much in domestic politics!