Commonwealth Games: Prince Charles delivers Queen's speech

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Royal historian Dr Ed Owens suggested the 22nd instalment of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham could help bring together the 56-member nations during a time of political turmoil. Dr Owens, who penned ‘The Family Firm: Monarchy, Mass Media and the British Public, 1932-1953’ told i: “I think we have got to distinguish the Commonwealth and the Commonwealth Games from the reaction in the Caribbean, which is first and foremost because they no longer want a royal head of state.

“That’s not to say that once they get rid of their royal head of state, in the Queen or King Charles III, that they don’t remain part of the Commonwealth.

“I think the Commonwealth Games is one of those things that actually sort of reinvigorates the identity of the Commonwealth.

“It brings together this group of 56 nations in full view of the global public and suggests that there is some fundamental thing holding us together, in this case the power of sport, to bring people together, the power of sport as a sort of a unifying force.”

Barbados has sent 65 competitors to the tournament less than a year after it severed ties with the British crown to become a republic in the Caribbean.

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St Vincent and the Grenadines, who have won just three medals in the entire history of the Commonwealth Games, are also poised to hold a referendum on the monarchy.

Similar polls could also be held in Jamaica, St Kitts & Nevis and Antigua & Barbuda.

The Royal Family were also rocked by anti-colonial and slavery protests when the Cambridges and the Wessexes embarked on separate tours of the Caribbean to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee earlier this year.

Prince William even expressed his solidarity with those marking the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade during a speech to dignitaries in Jamaica.

In a speech delivered at a dinner hosted by Jamaica’s Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen at King’s House in Kingston back in March, the Duke said: “I want to express my profound sorrow.

“Slavery was abhorrent. And it should never have happened.

“While the pains run deep, Jamaica continues to forge its future with determination, courage and fortitude.

“The strength and shared sense of purpose of the Jamaican people, represented in your flag and motto, celebrates an invincible spirit.”

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England’s second-largest city will welcome 5,054 athletes representing 72 nations and territories between July 28 and August 8.

Contestants will battle it out in Birmingham in 280 events which stretch across 20 sports.

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