When Elizabeth II was crowned on June 2, 1953, “the empire on which the sun never sets” is already shaken by the loss, six years ago, of its jewel, India. However, emerging victorious from the Second World War and charmed by the new queen, Great Britain still sees itself as a world power. “The country and the Commonwealth were not far from the kingdom of heaven” the day of the coronation, assures a few days later with satisfaction the Archbishop of Canterbury.
With its pragmatism, the country then set in motion the institutional changes and the relaxations which, over the decades and the process of decolonization, will allow Elizabeth II to maintain an international dimension.
While her father had been “Emperor of India”, Elizabeth II will be “Head of the Commonwealth”
To keep India, which became a Republic in 1950, in the bosom of the Crown, the title of the new sovereign is modified. While his father, George VI, was “King of the British Overseas Dominions »Elizabeth II will reign over “his other kingdoms and territories”. The “kingdom”, which designated the entire British Empire, now refers to a series of states, not necessarily “British” and which may be republics.
This arrangement, which breaks with the old principle according to which the Queen is the head of state of all Commonwealth countries, will make it possible to keep Pakistan (which became a republic in 1956), South Africa or Mauritius (1992). While her father had been “Emperor of India”, Elizabeth II will be “Head of the Commonwealth”, a term long synonymous with Empire, but cleverly preserved to designate a group of independent states historically and economically linked to London.
To govern “according to the laws and customs”
In 1953, the new monarch reigned over no less than forty-six territories – seven autonomous dominions and thirty-nine colonies and protectorates administered from London by the Colonial Office. His oath solemnly sworn in Westminster Cathedral contains a pledge to govern “according to laws and customs” of each of these “possession” and each of these “territories » which include Canada, Australia, Pakistan, Ceylon and the Union of South Africa.
Sixty-nine years later, when the queen disappears, the forty-six territories maintained in the Crown at her accession are independent, often for a long time, and the planisphere of the Empire studded with immense pink zones on all continents is ancient history.
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