The Commonwealth dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonisation of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories . It was originally created as the '' British Commonwealth of Nations '' through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference , and formalised by the United Kingdom through the Statute of Westminster in 1931 . The current Commonwealth of Nations was formally constituted by the London Declaration in 1949 , which modernised the community , and established the member states as " free and equal " . The human symbol of this free association is the Head of the Commonwealth , currently Queen Elizabeth II , and the 2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed Charles , Prince of Wales to be her designated successor , although the position is not technically hereditary . The Queen is the head of state of 16 member states , known as the Commonwealth realms , while 32 other members are republics and five others have different monarchs
2018 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2018
Commonwealth of Nations