King Charles gives his first Commonwealth Day reception at Buckingham Palace

King Charles joined his family as he entertained Commonwealth leaders tonight as he held his first Commonwealth Day reception at Buckingham Palace.

He was joined by the Queen Consort, the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal and her husband, Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, at the event at the Palace, a change from their usual venue of Marlborough House.

The family entered the White Room from their private apartments, where the King was received by the Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Baroness Scotland, and the Prime Minister of Samoa, Her Excellency Fiame Naomi Mata Afa. His country will host next year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

After cordial greetings, followed by the Prince of Wales, who chatted animatedly with the Duchess of Edinburgh as they waited, Her Majesty entered the Music Room to sign the Commonwealth Charter, a unique document outlining the 16 core values ​​of the Commonwealth. “family of nations”. ‘, which its leaders have pledged to uphold.

It was signed by Queen Elizabeth II on Commonwealth Day a decade ago, in 2013.

In front of him was the 18-carat Commonwealth mace studded with rubies and displaying each member’s flag which was created for Queen Elizabeth as her “legacy of peace”.

High Commissioners, Foreign Ministers and other representatives gathered in the Picture Gallery, drinking champagne and eating canapés as the Royal Family moved through the crowd.

The King stopped to speak to a group of Samoan artists while Prince William had a long talk with Baroness Benjamin.

She said afterwards: ‘The Commonwealth will always be here. Because of the millions of people around the world who are connected to the Commonwealth, it will never die.

‘I was thrilled to see hundreds of children there at the Abbey today because they are growing up knowing what the Commonwealth means.

“It was great to hear the King speak because it was very important for the children to hear the voice of the monarch so that his message today would be for them.

‘Understanding about togetherness, about diversity…he keeps using that word many times…connecting, understanding each other. That’s what the Commonwealth does.

‘It brings people together, gives you a better understanding of who you are and respects your differences. You accept your differences, which is brilliant.

‘When I received my Order of Merit I sat next to the King and we both agreed that childhood lasts a lifetime and the more you nurture the young, the more you engage with the young, the longer the feeling of togetherness lasts. You can’t wait to be older.

She said of her conversation with Prince William that they were mostly talking about diversity and soccer.

“He came to help unveil Windrush Memorial last year and spoke passionately about diversity, differences, what we need to focus on to bring the whole community and society together.

‘He spoke so eloquently, so I wanted to thank him for that. She told me ‘whatever you need, call me, my door is open,’ which is wonderful,’ she said.

And we are both soccer fans. I support two teams, Aston Villa -like him- and Arsenal. Aston Villa is for Dwight Yorke, he used to play for Aston Villa and he is the first professional footballer from Trinidad here. So William approved of that.