Passing the Crown
2001: The latest Imperial Government Act grants limited representation in the Westminster Parliament to the colonies and removes the hereditary peers from the House of Lords have bringing equal representation here.
2004: The residency period for local rights is reduced to two years.
2007: The Commonwealth Citizenship Act automatically grants local citizenship after a five year residency period. It however removes the right to have multiple local citizenships. Despite the use of the word Commonwealth in the Act's title, the term Imperial citizen is retained.
2009: The Commonwealth Titles Act grants the title Empress of the Commonwealth to the Queen and removes her title of Empress of India. Despite this change common usage remains Queen Elizabeth.
2011: Prince William, next in line to the throne after his father Charles, marries Mrigananka Singh, granddaughter of the 2nd Duke of Kashmir and Jammu.
2012: The Royal and Noble Succession Act replaces male preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for all royal and noble titles.
2013: Prince William and Princess Mrigananka's first child Prince George Hari is born, putting an Anglo-Indian in direct line to the throne.
The former British Empire has evolved into a multicultural democratic global federation now commonly known as the Commonwealth. While the Commonwealth's heritage is obvious and it retains many features of the empire, it is clearly a successor state. The old white core still wields much power and influence but the real centre of the state are the former colonies in Africa and Asia. Despite it's federal nature however, constitutional convention holds the central government sovereign. Authority flows from London to the states, thus it may act to overrule local governments.
The Commonwealth is one of the three great powers along with the US and Russia. Racism is still present but now a much lesser issue and most citizens agree that efforts should continue to eliminate this. However colonial integration, remains a source of controversy. It is rejected by some within the remaining colonies and even newer Commonwealth States, calling for full independence instead. These feelings are particularly strong in the Middle East, a region critical to Commonwealth security.
There are a few who call for modernisation and a republic. The formal rejection of the old Imperial heritage. However there is little general support for this and it is mostly confined to the fringes. Popular opinion holds that these traditional forms provide an important stabilising influence. Despite scandals in the 1990s the Royal Family are well regarded and Queen Elizabeth is much respected. Life Peers of the Realm are appointed throughout the Commonwealth, and while they have rather fallen out of fashion since the 1960s new hereditary titles are still created occasionally. While many of the formalities of the Commonwealth are anachronistic, they are valued as a link to the past and seen as adding prestige.
Many Commonwealth citizens seem told hold the somewhat smug and perhaps arrogant attitude that republican forms common elsewhere are slightly "tacky." The attitude seems to be if you're going to have a powerless head of state you may as well call her Queen, and well, adding Royal or Imperial to an organisation's title just sounds better.
Internationally however, despite global peace since the end of the Second Great War, the world is becoming restless again in the face of the rising power of China and a remilitarising Japan in the east along with the Italian led European Union in the west. The original five nuclear armed states of the Commonwealth, US, Russia, Italy and China have been joined by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Japan.
2001: The latest Imperial Government Act grants limited representation in the Westminster Parliament to the colonies and removes the hereditary peers from the House of Lords have bringing equal representation here.
2004: The residency period for local rights is reduced to two years.
2007: The Commonwealth Citizenship Act automatically grants local citizenship after a five year residency period. It however removes the right to have multiple local citizenships. Despite the use of the word Commonwealth in the Act's title, the term Imperial citizen is retained.
2009: The Commonwealth Titles Act grants the title Empress of the Commonwealth to the Queen and removes her title of Empress of India. Despite this change common usage remains Queen Elizabeth.
2011: Prince William, next in line to the throne after his father Charles, marries Mrigananka Singh, granddaughter of the 2nd Duke of Kashmir and Jammu.
2012: The Royal and Noble Succession Act replaces male preference primogeniture with absolute primogeniture for all royal and noble titles.
2013: Prince William and Princess Mrigananka's first child Prince George Hari is born, putting an Anglo-Indian in direct line to the throne.
The former British Empire has evolved into a multicultural democratic global federation now commonly known as the Commonwealth. While the Commonwealth's heritage is obvious and it retains many features of the empire, it is clearly a successor state. The old white core still wields much power and influence but the real centre of the state are the former colonies in Africa and Asia. Despite it's federal nature however, constitutional convention holds the central government sovereign. Authority flows from London to the states, thus it may act to overrule local governments.
The Commonwealth is one of the three great powers along with the US and Russia. Racism is still present but now a much lesser issue and most citizens agree that efforts should continue to eliminate this. However colonial integration, remains a source of controversy. It is rejected by some within the remaining colonies and even newer Commonwealth States, calling for full independence instead. These feelings are particularly strong in the Middle East, a region critical to Commonwealth security.
There are a few who call for modernisation and a republic. The formal rejection of the old Imperial heritage. However there is little general support for this and it is mostly confined to the fringes. Popular opinion holds that these traditional forms provide an important stabilising influence. Despite scandals in the 1990s the Royal Family are well regarded and Queen Elizabeth is much respected. Life Peers of the Realm are appointed throughout the Commonwealth, and while they have rather fallen out of fashion since the 1960s new hereditary titles are still created occasionally. While many of the formalities of the Commonwealth are anachronistic, they are valued as a link to the past and seen as adding prestige.
Many Commonwealth citizens seem told hold the somewhat smug and perhaps arrogant attitude that republican forms common elsewhere are slightly "tacky." The attitude seems to be if you're going to have a powerless head of state you may as well call her Queen, and well, adding Royal or Imperial to an organisation's title just sounds better.
Internationally however, despite global peace since the end of the Second Great War, the world is becoming restless again in the face of the rising power of China and a remilitarising Japan in the east along with the Italian led European Union in the west. The original five nuclear armed states of the Commonwealth, US, Russia, Italy and China have been joined by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Indonesia and Japan.