Baroness Floella Benjamin declares the Commonwealth ‘will never die’

Baroness Floella Benjamin has declared the Commonwealth “will never die” during a reception celebrating the family of nations hosted by the King.

Charles and senior royals chatted with members of the Commonwealth civil service, and senior diplomats from across the 56-member nations at Buckingham Palace, after the earlier Commonwealth Day service.

The Queen Consort attended along with the Prince of Wales, the new Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland.

Baroness Benjamin, the former children’s TV presenter and now author and peer, chaired the Windrush Commemoration Committee and chatted to William who spoke at the monument’s unveiling at Waterloo station.

She said: “The Commonwealth will always be here because for all the millions of people across the world who are all connected to the Commonwealth, it will never die.”

The King issued a rallying call to Commonwealth nations urging them to “strive together” to achieve a “global common good” in his first Commonwealth Day address delivered during the service.

Baroness Benjamin added: “I was so thrilled that hundreds of children were at the Abbey today to celebrate the Commonwealth. So they’re growing up knowing what the Commonwealth means.”

As the new head of the Commonwealth, the King signed the Commonwealth charter, first signed by the late Queen 10 years ago, a document he described in his earlier address as embodying the values of the family of nations from “peace and justice” to “care for our environment”.