King gives Commonwealth speech of 'tolerance and respect'

The Commonwealth tin beryllium a unit for good, promoting values of "tolerance, respect and solidarity", the King has told a work astatine Westminster Abbey.

King Charles was speaking astatine the yearly Commonwealth Day work successful London, the archetypal since the opening of his reign.

The King besides recalled however overmuch the Commonwealth had meant to his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.

When helium arrived astatine the service, helium received a accepted New Zealand Maori greeting of touching noses.

King Charles highlighted the 56 Commonwealth countries had a combined colonisation of 2.6 billion, astir a 3rd of the world's total.

Its corporate efforts could beforehand its defining values, helium said, "peace and justice; tolerance, respect and solidarity; attraction for our situation and for the astir susceptible among us".

The King addressed astir 2,000 guests from the UK and Commonwealth, including Camilla, the Queen Consort, the Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales, politicians, religion leaders and athletes who had competed successful the Commonwealth Games.

The work enactment a beardown accent connected diversity, with a mentation of a Bob Marley song, readings from Muslim, Sikh and Jewish representatives, arsenic good arsenic Christian denominations, and performers from Rwanda virtually dancing successful the aisles.

But the King's caller epoch arsenic Commonwealth caput is apt to spot challenges, including implicit issues specified arsenic colonialism, the bequest of slavery and quality rights wrong subordinate countries.

Outside the Westminster Abbey service, Peter Tatchell held a protestation criticising the deficiency of rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender radical successful galore Commonwealth countries, portion anti-monarchy campaigners besides demonstrated arsenic the Royal Family arrived.

In a code to Commonwealth leaders successful Rwanda past year, King Charles spoke of the value of acknowledging the past and his "personal sorrow" astatine the suffering caused by the enslaved trade. It was up to idiosyncratic states to determine whether to stay monarchies oregon became republics, helium added.

There volition beryllium questions astir whether the Commonwealth volition stay a diplomatic precedence for the UK.

The King's symbolic archetypal authorities visits volition beryllium to physique relationships with France and Germany, with the European destinations decided by the government.

But his connection astatine the Commonwealth Day work argued for the spot of bringing unneurotic antithetic cultures wrong the Commonwealth, saying: "By listening to each other, we volition find truthful galore of the solutions that we seek."