Commonwealth Realm
In 1970, 96 years of British rule came to an end, and Fiji became a Commonwealth realm, an independent sovereign state within the Commonwealth of Nations. The official name of the state was the "Dominion of Fiji". As a Commonwealth realm, Fiji's Head of State was Elizabeth II, represented by a Governor-General. The Commonwealth realms share a single monarch, and include countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. They are all independent from one another, and the Queen acts independently in each realm, but they share the same person as monarch. As a constitutional monarchy, executive power is held by a prime minister, usually the leader of the majority party in an elected legislature. The prime minister is appointed by a Governor-General in all realms except the United Kingdom, where the Queen appoints a prime minister personally.
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Famous quotes containing the words commonwealth and/or realm:
“Was I not born in this Realm? Were my parents born in any foreign country?... Is not my Kingdom here? Whom have I oppressed? Whom have I enriched to other’s harm? What turmoil have I made to this Commonwealth that I should be suspected to have no regard of the same?”
—Elizabeth I (1533–1603)
“War. Fighting. Men ... every man in the whole realm is in the army.... Every man in uniform ... An economy entirely geared to war ... but there is not much war ... hardly any fighting ... yet every man a soldier from birth till death ... Men ... all men for fighting ... but no war, no wars to fight ... what is it, what does it mean?””
—Doris Lessing (b. 1919)