What Are the Commonwealth Realms?

These are independent kingdoms where Charles III is King and Sovereign. There are 16 of them (see below) and all are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Each Realm, being independent of all the others, titles the King differently.

The 16 realms are:

1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Australia
3. Bahamas
4. Barbados
5. Belize
6. Canada
7. Grenada
8. Jamaica
9. New Zealand
10. Papua New Guinea
11. Saint Kitts and Nevis
12. Saint Lucia
13. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
14. Solomon Islands
15. Tuvalu
16. United Kingdom

The Late Queen’s title within Australia was:
Elizabeth II by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth. 'Queen' will not be replaced by 'King'.

His title in the UK is very similar:
Charles III, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.

In many respects the Commonwealth Realms is an amazing grouping as it is unique in the history of constitutional law because of its shared Sovereign, voluntary nature and its geographical spread. Because of the sharing of the person of the monarch countries within the Realms and Commonwealth generally do not have ambassadors but High Commissioners instead. As all the Realms are Commonwealth members the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting often has time set aside for the Realms to discuss common issues. As the King is Head of the Commonwealth it is usual for the monarch to attend these meetings wherever they may be held.

The King cannot be in 16 places at any one time and so in 15 cases a viceroy, i.e. a Governor-General, is appointed to carry out all the functions which the King would perform were she resident. The Governor-General is appointed by the King on the advice, in Australia’s case, of the prime minister. (In PNG and the Solomon Islands the Governor-General is elected by parliamentary vote and the name submitted to the King for approval.) Whenever the King visits one of her Realms (generally at the invitation of that Realm’s government) her absence from the UK is covered by various protocols to ensure that government continues. But the King still receives the red boxes of government business wherever she is.

The monarch’s presence in any one of the 16 Realms (or when she is acting in her capacity as King of that country even if he is not in residence) is announced by the flying of the Royal Standard of that country - if it has one. This is an ancient practice now used by most heads of state (at least when travelling by car), but in our case the Standard is flown wherever the Queen is at any one time.

The Queen’s standard in Australia (or when she is representing Australia abroad) was as below. This will be replaced by the King's standard when created.

For comparison her standard in the UK (but not Scotland) is:

(NB. The Queen, in 1954, expressed a preference for the simple Gaelic harp (as shown above) but the winged-female harp is occasionally seen as a number were made before the change was formally introduced.)

In small Realms such as Tuvalu the King is most likely to use the standard of the Governor-General.

In the Commonwealth where the King is Head he has no part to play in the day to day administration. This is taken care of by a Secretary-General who is elected by the heads of government, but he is now without doubt the unifying force behind this 54 nation grouping and has always taken a strong interest in its development. The Realms are within the Commonwealth and they share the King as Sovereign and therefore have a much closer relationship with him. The remaining 33 nations are either republics or have separate royal houses but all acknowledge the King as Head.