Commonwealth realm

A Commonwealth realm is a country in the Commonwealth of Nations which has King Charles III as monarch. They include his home country of the United Kingdom and many of its former colonies or territories. As of 2023, there are 15 commonwealth realms:

In each of the countries outside the UK, the King appoints a Governor-General to represent him, who, after consulting with the government of the realm, has all of the powers and duties of the Monarch. Usually the Governor-General signs all acts of parliament into law, but can wait and ask the King for advice or wait for him to sign the act himself.  This happened in 1982 when Queen Elizabeth signed the important Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms during a visit to Ottawa, and the Australia Act 1986 in Canberra. 

Some realms became republics; Barbados changed from being a realm to a republic in 2021.

Although King Charles III is monarch of many countries, the British government has no power in the other realms, just as the governments of the other realms have no power in the UK. This is why each realm decides on the Monarch's official title. Usually it is "Queen/King of (realm) and Her/His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth". But two countries mention the UK in their title for the Queen: Grenada uses "Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Grenada and Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth", while Canada uses the old-fashioned form, which reads "by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith." Not all countries use the title Defender of the Faith.

Other websites
 The Commonwealth Secretariat Official site
 The Commonwealth - UK Government site

Commonwealth
 United Commonwealth  Main All-Commonwealth group

Australia
 Australian Monarchist League (traditionalist constitutional monarchists)
 No Republic - Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (Moderate constitutional monarchists)

Canada
 Canadian Monarchy - The Official Site 
 Canadian Monarchist ONLINE
 Monarchist League of Canada

New Zealand
 Monarchist League of New Zealand 

Category:History of the United Kingdom

Category:Monarchy of the United Kingdom