The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will represent The Queen at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, set to take place this summer.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that the Prince and the Duchess will travel to Kigali, Rwanda for the meeting which will take place in the week of June 20th 2022.
The summit, usually known as CHOGM, takes places every two years and brings together leaders from across the Commonwealth. In 2022, its theme will be ”Delivering a Common Future: Connecting, Innovating, Transforming”.
The meeting was originally due to take place in Kigali in 2020 but has been postponed twice because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Prince of Wales made reference to that in a short statement that was released as his attendance was confirmed. Prince Charles said ”As the world works to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic, and in this Jubilee year, it is more important than ever that the countries of the Commonwealth come together. As a family of some 2.6 billion people from fifty-four nations across six continents, the Commonwealth represents a rich diversity of traditions, experience and talents which can help to build a more equal, sustainable and prosperous future.”
It was widely expected that The Queen would ask the heir to the throne to represent her at the meeting. The Queen gave up international travel in 2015.
Her Majesty last attended CHOGM in 2018, when it was held in London. At that gathering, she asked leaders to confirm Prince Charles as the next Head of the Commonwealth – the role is not hereditary. They agreed, with the heir to the throne saying he was ”deeply touched” by the confirmation.
Prince Charles has attended several other CHOGMs. As well as London in 2018, he was present at the summit in Edinburgh in 1997 and Uganda in 2007 as well as Malta in 2015. He also represented The Queen at the meeting in 2013 when it was held in Sri Lanka.
The announcement that the Prince would attend the 2022 CHOGM came just hours before he represented The Queen at the Commonwealth Day service in London.
