1.
Regina, Saskatchewan
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Regina (/rᵻˈdʒaɪnə/ is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan and within the Treaty 4 territories. The city is the second-largest in the province, after Saskatoon, and it is governed by Regina City Council. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Sherwood No.159, Regina was previously the seat of government of the North-West Territories, of which the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta originally formed part, and of the District of Assiniboia. The site was previously called Wascana, but was renamed to Regina in 1882 in honour of Queen Victoria and this decision was made by Queen Victorias daughter Princess Louise, who was the wife of the Governor General of Canada, the Marquess of Lorne. Unlike other planned cities in the Canadian West, on its treeless flat plain Regina has few topographical features other than the small spring run-off, Reginas importance was further secured when the new province of Saskatchewan designated the city its capital in 1906. The CCF, formulated its foundation Regina Manifesto,1933 in Regina, in recent years, Saskatchewans agricultural and mineral resources have come into new demand, and it has entered a new period of strong economic growth. The population of the Regina CMA as of 2016, was 236,481, there was an obvious conflict of interest in Dewdneys choosing the site of Pile-of-Bones as the territorial seat of government and it was a national scandal at the time. There, the Territories were remote and of little concern, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, wife of the then Governor General of Canada, named the new community Regina, in honour of her mother, Queen Victoria. The episode, including Riels imprisonment, trial and execution, brought the new Regina Leader, later the Leader-Post, to national prominence. Regina grew rapidly until the beginning of the Great Depression, in 1929, by this time, Saskatchewan was considered the third province of Canada in both population and economic indicators. Thereafter, Saskatchewan never recovered its early promise and Reginas growth slowed, in 1935, Regina gained notoriety for the Regina Riot, an incident of the On-to-Ottawa Trek. Recently older buildings have put to new uses, including the old Normal School on the Regina College campus of the University of Regina. Despite the setting, improbable though it always was compared with more likely sites for the capitol. There is an abundance of parks and greenspaces, all of its trees — some 300,000 — shrubs and other plants were hand-planted. As in other cities, American elms were planted in front yards in residential neighbourhoods. In recent years the pattern of primary and high school grounds being acreages of prairie sports grounds has been re-thought and such grounds have been landscaped with artificial hills, newer residential subdivisions in the northwest and southeast have, instead of spring runoff storm sewers, decorative landscaped lagoons. Despite having fallen in recent years, Reginas crime rate remains among the highest in Canada, Reginas overall police-reported crime rate was second highest in the country in 2012. However, the severity of crimes in Regina is quite high
2.
Monarchy of Canada
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The Monarchy of Canada is at the very core of both Canadas federal structure and Westminster-style of parliamentary and constitutional democracy. The monarchy is the foundation of the executive, legislature, and judiciary in the federal, the Canadian sovereign is the personification of the Canadian state and, as a matter of constitutional law, is Canada. The current Canadian monarch, since 6 February 1952, is Queen Elizabeth II, as such, Elizabeths son, Prince Charles, is heir apparent. Although the person of the sovereign is shared with 15 other independent countries within the Commonwealth of Nations, each countrys monarchy is separate. However, the Queen is the member of the Royal Family with any constitutional role. While some powers are only by the sovereign, most of the monarchs operational and ceremonial duties are exercised by his or her representative. In each of Canadas provinces, the monarch is represented by a lieutenant governor, as the territories are not sovereign, they do not have a viceroy. As all executive authority is vested in the sovereign, their assent is required to allow for bills to become law and for letters patent, Canada is one of the oldest continuing monarchies in the world. The emergence of this arrangement paralleled the fruition of Canadian nationalism following the end of the First World War and culminated in the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Upon a demise of the Crown, the late sovereigns heir immediately and automatically succeeds, without any need for confirmation or further ceremony, hence arises the phrase The King is dead. It is customary for the accession of the new monarch to be proclaimed by the governor general on behalf of the Privy Council. Following an appropriate period of mourning, the monarch is crowned in the United Kingdom in an ancient ritual. This is because, in law, the Crown never dies. After an individual ascends the throne, he or she continues to reign until death. The relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the rules of succession to their respective crowns requires the consent of all the realms. Succession is governed by statutes, such as the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701, in 1936, King Edward VIII abdicated and any possible future descendants of his were excluded from the line of succession. As the Statute of Westminster 1931 disallowed the UK from legislating for Canada, including in relation to succession, the latter was deemed by the Cabinet in 1947 to be part of Canadian law, as is the Bill of Rights 1689, according to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Department of External Affairs included all succession-related laws in its list of acts within Canadian law, certain aspects of the succession rules have been challenged in the courts
3.
Elizabeth II
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Elizabeth II has been Queen of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was born in London as the eldest child of the Duke and Duchess of York, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and her father acceded to the throne on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII in 1936, from which time she was the heir presumptive. She began to undertake duties during the Second World War. Elizabeths many historic visits and meetings include a visit to the Republic of Ireland. She has seen major changes, such as devolution in the United Kingdom, Canadian patriation. She has reigned through various wars and conflicts involving many of her realms and she is the worlds oldest reigning monarch as well as Britains longest-lived. In October 2016, she became the longest currently reigning monarch, in 2017 she became the first British monarch to commemorate a Sapphire Jubilee. Elizabeth has occasionally faced republican sentiments and press criticism of the family, however, support for the monarchy remains high. Elizabeth was born at 02,40 on 21 April 1926, during the reign of her paternal grandfather and her father, Prince Albert, Duke of York, was the second son of the King. Her mother, Elizabeth, Duchess of York, was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and she was delivered by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfathers London house,17 Bruton Street, Mayfair. Elizabeths only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930, the two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford, who was casually known as Crawfie. Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature and music, Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margarets childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family. The book describes Elizabeths love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, others echoed such observations, Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as a character. She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant and her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved. During her grandfathers reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the throne, behind her uncle Edward, Prince of Wales, and her father, the Duke of York. Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, many people believed that he would marry and have children of his own. When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second-in-line to the throne, later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis. Consequently, Elizabeths father became king, and she became heir presumptive, if her parents had had a later son, she would have lost her position as first-in-line, as her brother would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession
4.
George VI
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George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death. He was the last Emperor of India and the first Head of the Commonwealth, known as Albert until his accession, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, and was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort. As the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his life in the shadow of his elder brother. He attended naval college as a teenager, and served in the Royal Navy, in 1920, he was made Duke of York. He married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters, Elizabeth and Margaret, in the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never fully overcame. Georges elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936, however, later that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson. British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman, Edward abdicated in order to marry, and George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During Georges reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated, the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the countrys constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland, from 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1940 and 1941, respectively, though Britain and its allies were ultimately victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948. Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth. He was beset by problems in the later years of his reign. He was succeeded by his eldest daughter, Elizabeth II, George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria. His father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and his mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. His birthday was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Albert, uncertain of how the Prince Consorts widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been rather distressed. Two days later, he again, I really think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her. Consequently, he was baptised Albert Frederick Arthur George at St. Mary Magdalenes Church near Sandringham three months later, within the family, he was known informally as Bertie
5.
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
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Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, CI, GCVO, GCStJ was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom and the only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. Margaret spent much of her childhood in the company of her older sister and her life changed dramatically in 1936, when her paternal uncle, King Edward VIII, abdicated to marry a divorcée, Wallis Simpson. Margarets father became King, and her sister became heir presumptive. During World War II, the two stayed at Windsor Castle, despite suggestions to evacuate them to Canada. During the war years, Margaret was considered too young to perform any official duties, after the war, Margaret fell in love with Group Captain Peter Townsend. In 1952, Margarets father died, her sister became Queen, early the following year, he proposed to Margaret. Many in the government believed he would be a husband for the Queens 22-year-old sister. Margaret eventually abandoned her plans with him and in 1960, she accepted the proposal of the photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones, Margaret was often viewed as a controversial member of the British royal family. Her divorce earned her publicity, and she was romantically associated with several men. Her health gradually deteriorated in the two decades of her life. A heavy smoker for most of her life, she had a lung operation in 1985, a bout of pneumonia in 1993. She died at King Edward VII Hospital on 9 February 2002, Margaret was born on 21 August 1930 at Glamis Castle in Scotland, her mothers ancestral home, and was affectionately known as Margot within the royal family. The Home Secretary, J. R. Clynes, was present to verify the birth, the registration of her birth was delayed for several days to avoid her being numbered 13 in the parish register. At the time of her birth, she was fourth in the line of succession to the British throne and her father was Prince Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. Her mother was Elizabeth, Duchess of York, the youngest daughter of the 14th Earl, King George V disliked the name Ann but approved of the alternative Margaret Rose. Margaret was baptised in the chapel of Buckingham Palace on 30 October 1930 by Cosmo Lang. Margarets early life was spent primarily at the Yorks residences at 145 Piccadilly and she was educated alongside her sister, Princess Elizabeth, by their Scottish governess Marion Crawford. Margarets education was supervised by her mother, who in the words of Randolph Churchill never aimed at bringing her daughters up to be more than nicely behaved young ladies
6.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
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Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the wife of King George VI and the mother of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. She was the last Empress consort of India, born into a family of British nobility, she came to prominence in 1923 when she married Albert, Duke of York, the second son of King George V and Queen Mary. The couple and their daughters embodied traditional ideas of family and public service and she undertook a variety of public engagements and became known as the Smiling Duchess because of her consistent public expression. In 1936, her husband became king when his brother, Edward VIII. She accompanied her husband on diplomatic tours to France and North America before the start of World War II, during the war, her seemingly indomitable spirit provided moral support to the British public. In recognition of her role as an asset to British interests, after the war, her husbands health deteriorated and she was widowed at the age of 51. Her elder daughter, aged 25, became the new queen, on the death of Queen Mary in 1953, Elizabeth became the most senior member of the British royal family after the sovereign, and was viewed as the family matriarch. In her later years, she was a popular member of the family. She continued a public life until just a few months before her death at the age of 101, seven weeks after the death of her younger daughter. Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the youngest daughter and the ninth of ten children of Claude Bowes-Lyon, Lord Glamis, other possible locations include Forbes House in Ham, London, the home of her maternal grandmother, Louisa Scott. Her birth was registered at Hitchin, Hertfordshire, near the Strathmores English country house, St Pauls Walden Bury, which was also given as her birthplace in the census the following year. She was christened there on 23 September 1900, in the parish church, All Saints. She spent much of her childhood at St Pauls Walden and at Glamis Castle and she was educated at home by a governess until the age of eight, and was fond of field sports, ponies and dogs. When she started school in London, she astonished her teachers by precociously beginning an essay with two Greek words from Xenophons Anabasis and her best subjects were literature and scripture. After returning to education under a German Jewish governess, Käthe Kübler. On her fourteenth birthday, Britain declared war on Germany, four of her brothers served in the army. Her elder brother, Fergus, an officer in the Black Watch Regiment, was killed in action at the Battle of Loos in 1915, another brother, Michael, was reported missing in action on 28 April 1917. Three weeks later, the family discovered he had captured after being wounded
7.
Commonwealth realm
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Subsequently, India and Pakistan and Ceylon became Dominions. By the early 1950s, in order to reflect the equality between the countries in that group, each came to be known as a realm. The word was used in Britains proclamation of Elizabeth II as queen in 1952 and was adopted for the modern royal styles and titles under the legislation enacted by the individual countries. The principle was applied to countries as they became Commonwealth realms. The phrase Commonwealth realm, though used officially, is not a statutory term, the number of independent countries in the Commonwealth of Nations all sharing the same person as monarch reached 18 between 1983 and 1987. The Commonwealth realms are, for purposes of international relations, sovereign states, political scientist Peter Boyce called this grouping of countries associated in this manner, an achievement without parallel in the history of international relations or constitutional law. Since each realm has the person as its monarch, the diplomatic practice of exchanging ambassadors with letters of credence. Diplomatic relations between the Commonwealth realms are thus at a cabinet level only and high commissioners are exchanged between realms, a high commissioners full title will thus be High Commissioner for Her Majestys Government in. Opinion on the prospect of the coming to fruition is mixed. This means that in different contexts the term Crown may refer to the extra-national institution associating all 16 countries, from a cultural standpoint, the sovereigns name and image and other royal symbols unique to each nation are visible in the emblems and insignia of governmental institutions and militia. By 1959, it was being asserted by Buckingham Palace officials that the Queen was equally at home in all her realms and this convention was first applied to the abdication of Edward VIII in 1936. For expediency and to avoid embarrassment, the British government had suggested that the Dominion governments automatically regard the monarch of the UK, whoever this may be, as their monarch also. Sir Maurice Gwyer, first parliamentary counsel in the UK, reflected this position and these changes came into effect on 26 March 2015. Agreement among the realms does not, however, mean the succession laws cannot diverge, the parliament of South Africa, however, passed its own legislation—His Majesty King Edward the Eighths Abdication Act, 1937—which backdated the abdication there to 10 December. The Irish Free State recognised the kings abdication with the Executive Authority Act 1936 on 12 December, according to Anne Twomey, this demonstrated the divisibility of the Crown in the personal, as well as the political, sense. For E H Coghill, writing as early as 1937, it proved that the convention of a line of succession is not of imperative force. It is generally agreed that any alteration of succession by the UK would not have effect in all the realms. Following the accession of George VI to the throne, the United Kingdom created legislation that provided for a regency in the event that the monarch was not of age or incapacitated
8.
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
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Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. A member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, Philip was born into the Greek and he was born in Greece, but his family was exiled from the country when he was an infant. After being educated in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, he joined the Royal Navy in 1939, from July 1939, he began corresponding with the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth, whom he had first met in 1934. During the Second World War he served with the Mediterranean and Pacific fleets, after the war, Philip was granted permission by King George VI to marry Elizabeth. After an engagement of five months, he married Elizabeth on 20 November 1947, just before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh. Philip left active service when Elizabeth became Queen in 1952. He was formally made a Prince of the United Kingdom in 1957, Philip has four children with Elizabeth, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward. He has eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, a keen sports enthusiast, Philip helped develop the equestrian event of carriage driving. He is a patron of over 800 organisations and serves as chairman of the Duke of Edinburghs Award scheme for people aged 14 to 24 and he is the longest-serving consort of a reigning British monarch and the oldest-ever male member of the British royal family. Philips four elder sisters were Margarita, Theodora, Cecilie, and he was baptised into the Greek Orthodox Church. His godparents were Queen Olga of Greece and the Mayor of Corfu, shortly after Philips birth, his maternal grandfather, Prince Louis of Battenberg, then known as Louis Mountbatten, Marquess of Milford Haven, died in London. Louis was a naturalised British citizen, who, after a career in the Royal Navy, had renounced his German titles and adopted the surname Mountbatten during the First World War. After visiting London for the memorial, Philip and his mother returned to Greece where Prince Andrew had remained behind to command an army division embroiled in the Greco-Turkish War, the war went badly for Greece and the Turks made large gains. On 22 September 1922, Philips uncle, King Constantine I, was forced to abdicate, the commander of the army, General Georgios Hatzianestis, and five senior politicians were executed. Prince Andrews life was believed to be in danger, and Alice was under surveillance, in December, a revolutionary court banished Prince Andrew from Greece for life. The British naval vessel HMS Calypso evacuated Prince Andrews family, with Philip carried to safety in a cot made from a fruit box. Philips family went to France, where settled in the Paris suburb of Saint-Cloud in a house lent to them by his wealthy aunt, Princess George of Greece. Because Philip left Greece as a baby, he not have a strong grasp of Greek
9.
Jamaica
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Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea, consisting of the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles. The island,10,990 square kilometres in area, lies about 145 kilometres south of Cuba, Jamaica is the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean, by area. Inhabited by the indigenous Arawak and Taíno peoples, the island came under Spanish rule following the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1494, Many of the indigenous people died of disease, and the Spanish imported African slaves as labourers. Named Santiago, the island remained a possession of Spain until 1655, under British colonial rule Jamaica became a leading sugar exporter, with its plantation economy highly dependent on slaves imported from Africa. The British fully emancipated all slaves in 1838, and many chose to have subsistence farms rather than to work on plantations. Beginning in the 1840s, the British imported Chinese and Indian indentured labour to work on plantations, the island achieved independence from the United Kingdom on 6 August 1962. With 2.8 million people, Jamaica is the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas, Kingston is the countrys capital and largest city, with a population of 937,700. Jamaicans predominately have African ancestry, with significant European, Chinese, Hakka, Indian, due to a high rate of emigration for work since the 1960s, Jamaica has a large diaspora around the world, particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Jamaica is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch and her appointed representative in the country is the Governor-General of Jamaica, an office held by Sir Patrick Allen since 2009. Andrew Holness has served as the head of government and Prime Minister of Jamaica from March 2016, the indigenous people, the Taíno, called it Xaymaca in Arawakan, meaning the Land of Wood and Water or the Land of Springs. Colloquially Jamaicans refer to their island as the Rock. Slang names such as Jamrock, Jamdown, or briefly Ja, have derived from this, the Arawak and Taíno indigenous people, originating in South America, settled on the island between 4000 and 1000 BC. When Christopher Columbus arrived in 1494, there were more than 200 villages ruled by caciques, the south coast of Jamaica was the most populated, especially around the area now known as Old Harbour. The Taino still inhabited Jamaica when the English took control of the island in 1655, the Jamaican National Heritage Trust is attempting to locate and document any evidence of the Taino/Arawak. Christopher Columbus claimed Jamaica for Spain after landing there in 1494 and his probable landing point was Dry Harbour, now called Discovery Bay, although there is some debate that it might have been St. Anns Bay. St. Anns Bay was named Saint Gloria by Columbus, as the first sighting of the land, the capital was moved to Spanish Town, then called St. Jago de la Vega, around 1534. Spanish Town has the oldest cathedral of the British colonies in the Caribbean, the Spanish were forcibly evicted by the English at Ocho Rios in St. Ann. In 1655, the English, led by Sir William Penn and General Robert Venables, the English continued to import African slaves as labourers
10.
Monarchy of the United Kingdom
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The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies and its overseas territories. The monarchs title is King or Queen, the current monarch and head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, ascended the throne on the death of her father, King George VI, on 6 February 1952. The monarch and his or her immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic, as the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the Prime Minister. The monarch is, by tradition, commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces, from 1603, when the Scottish monarch King James VI inherited the English throne as James I, both the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, the Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married Catholics, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the British monarch became nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the worlds surface at its greatest extent in 1921. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other Commonwealth monarchies that share the person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the Monarch is the Head of State, oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. God Save the Queen is the British national anthem, and the monarch appears on postage stamps, coins, the Monarch takes little direct part in Government. Executive power is exercised by Her Majestys Government, which comprises Ministers, primarily the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and they have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services. Judicial power is vested in the Judiciary, who by constitution, the Church of England, of which the Monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures. Powers independent of government are legally granted to public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council. The Sovereigns role as a monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions. This role has been recognised since the 19th century, the constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the dignified part rather than the efficient part of government. Whenever necessary, the Monarch is responsible for appointing a new Prime Minister, the Prime Minister takes office by attending the Monarch in private audience, and after kissing hands that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. Since 1945, there have only been two hung parliaments, the first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilsons Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party, the second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II
11.
Monarchy of Jamaica
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The monarchy of Jamaica is a constitutional system of government in which a hereditary monarch is the sovereign of Jamaica. The terms Crown in Right of Jamaica, Her Majesty in Right of Jamaica, though the Jamaican Crown has its roots in the British Crown, it has evolved to become a distinctly Jamaican institution, represented by its own unique symbols. The present monarch is Queen Elizabeth II—officially titled Queen of Jamaica—who has reigned since 6 August 1962 and she, her consort, and other members of the Royal Family undertake various public and private functions across Jamaica and on behalf of the country abroad. While several powers are the sovereigns alone, most of the constitutional and ceremonial duties in Jamaica are carried out by the Queens representative. The Jamaican monarch, besides reigning in Jamaica, separately serves as monarch for each of fifteen other Commonwealth countries known as Commonwealth realms and this developed from the former colonial relationship of these countries to Britain, but they are now independent and the monarchy of each is legally distinct. Jamaica has the person as their monarch as other Commonwealth realms. On all matters of the Jamaican state, the monarch is advised solely by Jamaican Ministers of the Crown, and, effective with the Jamaica Independence Act,1962, no British or other realm government can advise the monarch on matters pertinent to Jamaica. Instead, the practice of sending High Commissioners developed, wherein an individual is sent to be a representative in one realm of the government in another. The sovereigns role specifically as Queen of Jamaica, as well as her status as monarch of other nations, is communicated by mentioning Jamaica separately from, but along with, the Queens other lands. Typically, the sovereign is styled Queen of Jamaica, and is addressed as such when in Jamaica or performing duties on behalf of Jamaica abroad and this applies equally to other members of the royal family. Succession is by male-preference primogeniture governed by the provisions of the Act of Settlement,1701, thus, Jamaicas line of succession remains identical to that of the United Kingdom. Upon a demise of the Crown it is customary for the accession of the new monarch to be proclaimed by the Governor-General. All incumbent viceroys, judges, civil servants, legislators, military officers, after an individual ascends the throne, he or she typically continues to reign until death. Since the independence of Jamaica, the role as monarch of Jamaica has been recognised and promoted as separate to his or her position as monarch of the United Kingdom. Today the sovereign is regarded as the personification, or legal personality, according to their respective laws and customs. Save for that taken by senators, the oaths of allegiance were altered in 2002, all institutions of government are said to act under the sovereigns authority, the vast powers that belong to the Crown are collectively known as the Royal Prerogative. The government of Jamaica is also formally referred to as Her Majestys Government. The Form of Oath of Allegiance set out in the First Schedule of the Order in Council, is a declaration of allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Her Heirs and Successors
12.
Montego Bay
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Montego Bay is the capital of the parish of St. James and the fourth largest city in Jamaica by population and the second by area. Montego Bay is a tourist destination featuring duty-free shopping, a cruise terminal and several beaches. The city is served by the Donald Sangster International Airport located on the edge of the city, the city is enclosed in a watershed, drained by several rivers such as the Montego River. When Christopher Columbus for the first time visited the island in 1494, Jamaica was a colony of Spain from 1511 until 1655, when Oliver Cromwells Caribbean expedition, the Western Design, drove the Spanish from the island. During the epoch of slavery, from the century until 1834, and well into the 20th century. The islands last major revolt, the Christmas Rebellion or Baptist War took place in the area around Montego Bay. In 1975, Sharpe was proclaimed a hero of Jamaica. Montego Bays city status prior to British rule was debated, however, it had its city status revoked during Jamaicas British colonial. In 1980, it was re-proclaimed a city by act of parliament, the most famous is the White Witchs Rose Hall which now features a world-class golf course. The infrastructure of the city is going through a series of explosive modernizations which once completed, the Montego Bay Convention Centre, built on a large site near to the Rose Hall estate, was opened by Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding on 7 January 2011. The majority of the population is of African descent. The city is home to sizeable minority ethnic groups such as the East Indians and Chinese. The Chinese especially occupy important roles in the economy especially in retail where Downtown Montego Bay is home to many shops. The citys East Indians population also play a key role as they operate many gift, there is also a minority of Europeans, some descending from immigrants from Germany and Great Britain. The city is home to many immigrants from Hispanic countries such as Mexico, Cuba and Spain as well as many French. Due to the influence of Tourism and BPO, the city is also home to many Americans and Canadians. There are a variety of Christian churches in the city. Most are Protestant, a legacy of British colonisation of the island, the chief denominations are Church of God, Baptist, Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Seventh-day Adventist and Pentecostal
13.
Kingston, Jamaica
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Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal. In the Americas, Kingston is the largest predominantly English-speaking city south of the United States. The local government bodies of the parishes of Kingston and St. Andrew were amalgamated by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation Act of 1923, to form the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation. Greater Kingston, or the Corporate Area refers to areas under the KSAC, however, it does not solely refer to Kingston Parish. Kingston Parish had a population of 96,052, and St. Andrew parish had a population of 555,828 in 2001, Kingston is only bordered by Saint Andrew to the east, west and north. The city proper is bounded by Six Miles to the west, Stony Hill to the north, Papine to the northeast and Harbour View to the east, communities in urban and suburban Saint Andrew. Communities in rural St. Andrew such as Gordon Town, Mavis Bank, Lawrence Tavern, Mt. Airy, two parts make up the central area of Kingston, the historic Downtown, and New Kingston. Both are served by Norman Manley International Airport and also by the smaller, Kingston was founded in July 1692 as a place for survivors of the 1692 earthquake that destroyed Port Royal. Before the earthquake, Kingston’s functions were purely agricultural, the earthquake survivors set up a camp on the sea front. Approximately two thousand people died due to mosquito-borne diseases, initially the people lived in a tented camp on Colonel Barrys Hog Crawle. The town did not begin to grow until after the destruction of Port Royal by fire in 1703. Surveyor John Goffe drew up a plan for the town based on a grid bounded by North, East, West, by 1716 it had become the largest town and the centre of trade for Jamaica. The government sold land to people with the regulation that they no more than the amount of the land that they owned in Port Royal. Gradually wealthy merchants began to move their residences from above their businesses to the lands north on the plains of Liguanea. The first free school, Wolmerss, was founded in 1729 and there was a theatre, first on Harbour Street, in 1755 the governor, Sir Charles Knowles, had decided to transfer the government offices from Spanish Town to Kingston. It was thought by some to be a location for the Assembly in proximity to the moral distractions of Kingston. By the end of the 18th century, the city contained more than 3,000 brick buildings, the harbour fostered trade, and played part in several naval wars of the 18th century
14.
Prime Minister of Jamaica
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The Prime Minister of Jamaica is Jamaicas head of government, currently Andrew Holness. Holness, as leader of the governing Jamaica Labour Party, was sworn in as Prime Minister on 3 March 2016 and this was a result of the JLPs victory in Jamaicas 25 February 2016 general election. The Prime Minister is formally appointed into office by the Governor General of Jamaica, who represents Elizabeth II, the Prime Minister of Jamaicas official residence is Vale Royal. The property was constructed in 1694 by the planter Sir William Taylor, Taylor was one of the richest men in Jamaica at the time, in 1928 the property was sold to the government and became the official residence of the British Colonial Secretary. Vale Royal has subsequently become the residence of the Prime Minister. Vale Royal is not open to the public, note, Died in office Governor-General of Jamaica Government of Jamaica - Office of the Prime Minister - Official website
15.
Rastafari
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It developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. There are many sects of Rastafari that have developed over the years and its adherents worship him in much the same way as Jesus in his Second Coming, or as God the Son. Members of the Rastafari way of life are known as Rastafari, Rastas, Rastafari are also known by their official church titles, such as Elder or High Priest. Rastafari has always been conceived as a way of life for, the name Rastafari is taken from Ras Tafari, the title and first name of Haile Selassie I before his coronation. In Amharic, Ras, literally head, is an Ethiopian title equivalent to prince or chief, while the personal given name Täfäri means one who is revered. Yah is a Biblical name of God, from a form of Jahweh or Yahuah found in Psalms 68,4 in the King James Version of the Bible. Most adherents see Haile Selassie I as Jah or Jah Rastafari, an incarnation of God the Father, Rastafari developed in Jamaica during the 1930s, having been influenced by both Ethiopianism and the Back to Africa movement promoted by black nationalist figures like Marcus Garvey. A number of Christian clergymen, most notably Leonard Howell, believed that the crowning of Haile Selassie as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930 marked the fulfilment of a Biblical prophecy and this idea generated the Rastafari movement, which spread throughout Jamaica in that decade. By the 1950s the religion has come into conflict with other aspects of the islands society and had spread to other nations. In the 1960s it expanded and began to gain an increasing influence through music, the Rastafari way of life encompasses the spiritual use of cannabis and the rejection of the degenerate society of materialism, oppression, and sensual pleasures, called Babylon. It proclaims Zion, in reference to Ethiopia, as the birthplace of humankind, and from the beginning of the way of life calls for repatriation to Zion. This can mean moving to Ethiopia but also refers to mentally and emotionally repatriating before the physical. Some Rastafari also embrace various Afrocentric and Pan-African social and political aspirations, International awareness of Rastafari grew in the 1970s as a result of the popularity of reggae music, and especially the international success of singer-songwriter Bob Marley. By 1997 there were, according to one estimate, around one million Rastafari worldwide, in the 2011 Jamaican census,29,026 individuals identified themselves as Rastafari. Other sources estimated that in the 2000s they formed about 5% of the population of Jamaica, scholars of religion categorise Rastafari as a new religious movement. Many Rastas themselves do not however regard it as a religion, attempts have been made to summarise Rastafari belief, but these have never been accorded the status of a catechism or creed within the movement. Emphasis is placed on the idea that experience and intuitive understanding should be used to determine the truth or validity of a particular belief or practice. No Rasta therefore has the authority to declare what beliefs and practices are orthodox, the conviction that Rastafari has no dogma is so strong that it has itself become something of a dogma, according to Clarke
16.
Governor-General of Jamaica
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The Governor-General of Jamaica represents the Jamaican monarch and head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Queen, on the advice of the minister, appoints a governor-general as her representative in Jamaica. Both the Queen and the governor-general hold much power, but rarely exercise it, usually only in emergencies, the governor-general represents the monarch on ceremonial occasions such as the opening of parliament, the presentation of honors, and military parades. Jamaican republicanism, a position which is held by the current Jamaican government, list of Governors of Jamaica Monarchy of Jamaica Politics of Jamaica Prime Minister of Jamaica Governor-General of Jamaica - Official website
17.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
18.
Parliament of Jamaica
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The Parliament of Jamaica is the legislative branch of the government of Jamaica. It is a body, composed of an appointed Senate. The House of Representatives, the Lower House, is made up of 63 Members of Parliament, the Parliament meets at George William Gordon House at 81 Duke Street, Kingston. It was built in 1960 and named in memory of Jamaican patriot George William Gordon, the House of Representatives is the Lower House. It is the group of elected members of parliament, prime Minister Andrew Holness, St. Andrew West Central(snap election Hon. Pearnel Charles, Sr. Clarendon North Central - Speaker Hon. The Hon. Christopher Tufton, St. Catherine West Central Hon. Audley Shaw, Manchester North Eastern Hon. Karl Samuda, Senator Matthew Samuda Senator Delroy Williams Senator Kerensia Morrison Senator Dr. Sapphire Longmore-Dropinski Opposition Senator Mark Golding - Leader of Opposition Business Senator Keith D
19.
Auckland
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Auckland is a city in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the most populous area in the country. Auckland has a population of 1,495,000, which constitutes 32 percent of New Zealands population, a diverse and multicultural city, Auckland is home to the largest Polynesian population in the world. It has also been called Ākarana, the Māori pronunciation of Auckland, the Auckland urban area ranges to Waiwera in the north, Kumeu in the northwest, and Runciman in the south. It is not contiguous, the section from Waiwera to Whangaparāoa Peninsula is separate from its nearest neighbouring suburb of Long Bay, the surrounding hills are covered in rainforest and the landscape is dotted with dozens of dormant volcanic cones. The central part of the area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitemata Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. It is one of the few cities in the world to have harbours on two major bodies of water. The isthmus on which Auckland resides was first settled around 1350 and was valued for its rich, Māori population in the area is estimated to have peaked at 20,000 before the arrival of Europeans. After a British colony was established in 1840, the new Governor of New Zealand, William Hobson and he named the area Auckland for George Eden, Earl of Auckland, British First Lord of the Admiralty. It was replaced as the capital in 1865, but immigration to the new city stayed strong, today, Aucklands Central Business District is the major financial centre of New Zealand. Auckland is classified as a Beta World City because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, education and tourism. Aucklands landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, the isthmus was settled by Māori around 1350, and was valued for its rich and fertile land. Many pā were created, mainly on the volcanic peaks, Māori population in the area is estimated to have been about 20,000 people before the arrival of Europeans. As a result, the region had relatively low numbers of Māori when European settlement of New Zealand began, there is, however, nothing to suggest that this was the result of a deliberate European policy. Auckland was officially declared New Zealands capital in 1841 and the transfer of the administration from Russell in the Bay of Islands was completed in 1842. However, even in 1840 Port Nicholson was seen as a choice for an administrative capital because of its proximity to the South Island. After losing its status as capital, Auckland remained the city of the Auckland Province until the provincial system was abolished in 1876. Each of the four settlements had about 800 settlers, the men being fully armed in case of emergency but spent nearly all their time breaking in the land and establishing roads
20.
Taupo
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Taupō is a town on the shore of Lake Taupō in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupō District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region, Taupō has a population of 24,100. In 1953, Taupō was officially constituted as a borough, but from 1989 it has been administered by the Taupo District Council, despite this, it is occasionally referred to as a city. It is the 20th largest urban area in New Zealand, the name Taupō, by which the town is commonly known, is the shortened version of its full name, Taupō-nui-a-Tia. Literally translated from Māori language, Taupō-nui-a-Tia means The great cloak of Tia, in 2009 a team of Taupō citizens won the TV2 programme Top Town. Taupō is located at the outlet of Lake Taupō, New Zealands largest lake, the river flows over the spectacular Huka Falls, a short distance north of the town. Taupō is a centre of volcanic and geothermal activity and hot springs suitable for bathing are located at places in the vicinity. The volcanic Mount Tauhara lies six kilometres to the east, somewhat to the northeast are significant hot springs. These springs contain extremophile micro-organisms that live in hot environments. Taupō is situated on a stretch of State Highway 1, running concurrently with State Highway 5 and it is situated 53 km north of Turangi. It is one of the few centres in New Zealand that were never linked to the rail network, the small but growing satellite town of Kinloch, where there is a golf course designed by Jack Nicklaus, is 20 kilometres west along the lake. Taupō neighbourhoods include, Wharewaka is a swimming spot for locals and has a growing new subdivision along with a large retirement village. Nukuhau lies north of the Waikato River, to the south west lies Acacia Bay and to the south lies Taupō town centre. Richmond Heights lies to the east of Rainbow Point and south of Mountain View and it is home to the Waipahihi Primary School, Richmond Heights shopping center, and the Waipahihi Botanical Gardens. Mount View Acacia Bay Rainbow Point lies north of Wharewaka and west of Richmond Heights, to the west lies Lake Taupo. Tauhara lies just north of Hilltop and east of Mount View, Mount Tauhara lies just east of Tauhara. Tauhara is the location of Tauhara primary school, Tauhara College, Hilltop is the location of Hilltop School, Taupō Intermediate School, the Taupō Hospital, the Taharepa shopping centre and the Hilltop shopping centre. Gradwell is a suburb of Taupō, to the south lies Rainbow Point to the north is Hilltop
21.
Christchurch
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Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. The Christchurch urban area lies on the South Islands east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula and it is home to 389,700 residents, making it New Zealands third most-populous urban area behind Auckland and Wellington. The city was named by the Canterbury Association, which settled the province of Canterbury. The name of Christchurch was agreed on at the first meeting of the association on 27 March 1848 and it was suggested by John Robert Godley, who had attended Christ Church, Oxford. Some early writers called the town Christ Church, but it was recorded as Christchurch in the minutes of the management committee of the association, Christchurch became a city by Royal Charter on 31 July 1856, making it officially the oldest established city in New Zealand. The Avon River flows through the centre of the city, with a park located along its banks. At the request of the Deans brothers, the river was named after the River Avon in Scotland, the usual Māori name for Christchurch is Ōtautahi. This was originally the name of a site by the Avon River near present-day Kilmore Street. The site was a dwelling of Ngāi Tahu chief Te Potiki Tautahi. The Ōtautahi name was adopted in the 1930s, prior to that the Ngāi Tahu generally referred to the Christchurch area as Karaitiana, a transliteration of the English word Christian. The citys name is abbreviated by New Zealanders to Chch. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is the fingerspelled letter C signed twice, with the second to the right of the first. Archaeological evidence found in a cave at Redcliffs in 1876 has indicated that the Christchurch area was first settled by moa-hunting tribes about 1250 CE. These first inhabitants were thought to have followed by the Waitaha tribe. Following tribal warfare, the Waitaha were dispossessed by the Ngati Mamoe tribe and they were in turn subjugated by the Ngāi Tahu tribe, who remained in control until the arrival of European settlers. Their abandoned holdings were taken over by the Deans brothers in 1843 who stayed, the First Four Ships were chartered by the Canterbury Association and brought the first 792 of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton Harbour. These sailing vessels were the Randolph, Charlotte Jane, Sir George Seymour, the Charlotte Jane was the first to arrive on 16 December 1850. The Canterbury Pilgrims had aspirations of building a city around a cathedral and college, the name Christ Church was decided prior to the ships arrival, at the Associations first meeting, on 27 March 1848
22.
Wellington
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Wellington is the capital and second most populous urban area of New Zealand, with 405,000 residents. It is at the tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range. Wellington is the population centre of the southern North Island and is the administrative centre of the Wellington Region. It is the worlds windiest city, with a wind speed of over 26 km/h. Situated near the centre of the country, Wellington was well placed for trade. In 1839 it was chosen as the first major planned settlement for British immigrants coming to New Zealand, the settlement was named in honour of the Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo. As the nations capital since 1865, the New Zealand Government and Parliament, Supreme Court, despite being much smaller than Auckland, Wellington is also referred to as New Zealands cultural capital. The city is home to the National Archives, the National Library, architectural sights include the Government Building—one of the largest wooden buildings in the world—as well as the iconic Beehive. Wellington plays host to artistic and cultural organisations, including the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. It has an urban culture, with many cafés, restaurants. One of the worlds most liveable cities, the 2014 Mercer Quality of Living Survey ranked Wellington 12th in the world, Wellingtons economy is primarily service-based, with an emphasis on finance, business services, and government. It is the centre of New Zealands film and special effects industries, Wellington ranks as one of New Zealands chief seaports and serves both domestic and international shipping. The city is served by Wellington International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, Wellingtons transport network includes train and bus lines which reach as far as the Kapiti Coast and Wairarapa, and ferries connect the city to the South Island. Wellington takes its name from Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington and victor of the Battle of Waterloo, his title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset. One of the founders of the settlement, Edward Jerningham Wakefield, reported that the settlers took up the views of the directors with great cordiality, in Māori, Wellington has three names. In New Zealand Sign Language, the name is signed by raising the index, middle and ring fingers of one hand, palm forward, to form a W, and shaking it slightly from side to side twice. The citys location close to the mouth of the narrow Cook Strait leads to its vulnerability to strong gales, legends recount that Kupe discovered and explored the district in about the 10th century. The earliest date with hard evidence for Maori living in New Zealand is about 1280, European settlement began with the arrival of an advance party of the New Zealand Company on the ship Tory on 20 September 1839, followed by 150 settlers on the Aurora on 22 January 1840
23.
Prime Minister of New Zealand
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The Prime Minister of New Zealand is the head of government of New Zealand. The current prime minister is Bill English of the National Party, the prime minister is the most senior government minister, and chairs cabinet meetings. The office exists by a convention, which originated in New Zealands former colonial power. The convention stipulates that the Governor-General of New Zealand must select as prime minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the House of Representatives and this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber. The title prime minister had made its first formal appearance in the 1873 Schedule of the Civil List Act and this was changed in 1869 to premier. That title remained in use for more than 30 years, being changed by Richard Seddon to prime minister in 1901 during his tenure in office. Following the declaration of New Zealand as a dominion in 1907, the office of prime minister is not defined by codified laws, but by unwritten customs known as constitutional conventions which developed in Britain and were replicated in New Zealand. The Prime Minister is leader of the cabinet, and takes a coordinating role, the Cabinet Manual 2008 provides an outline of the prime ministers powers and responsibilities. The post of minister is, like other ministerial positions. However, the convention has long since established that the prime minister must have. Historically, this has meant that the prime minister is the parliamentary leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives. By constitutional convention, the minister holds formal power to advise the sovereign. As head of government, the prime minister alone has the right to advise the governor-general to, Appoint, dismiss, call elections by advising the governor-general to dissolve parliament. The governor-general may reject the advice to dissolve parliament if the minister has recently lost a vote of confidence. The prime minister is regarded by convention as first among equals and they do hold the most senior post in government, but are also required to adhere to any decisions taken by cabinet, as per the convention of cabinet collective responsibility. The ability to appoint and dismiss ministers, furthermore, the MMP electoral system has complicated this, as the prime minister may have to consult with another party leader. The influence a prime minister is likely to have as leader of the dominant party and these powers may give more direct control over subordinates than is attached to the prime ministers role. The power gained simply from being central to most significant decision-making, in addition, like all other ministers and members of parliament, the prime minister receives annual allowances for travel and lodging, as do the prime ministers spouse and children
24.
Helen Clark
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Helen Elizabeth Clark ONZ PC is the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand. She has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the third-highest UN position, in April 2016, she declared her candidacy for the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations. Clark graduated from the University of Auckland in 1974 and became active in the New Zealand Labour Party as a teenager. While a junior lecturer at the University in the early 1970s, in 1975 she came second for Labour in the rural seat of Piako. In 1981 she was elected to Parliament for the safe Labour seat of Mount Albert, Clark held numerous Cabinet positions in the Fourth Labour government of 1984–1990, including Minister of Housing, Minister of Health and Minister of Conservation. She was Deputy Prime Minister from 1989–1990 under Prime Ministers Geoffrey Palmer, after Labours strong showing in the 1993 election, Clark challenged the Labour leadership of Mike Moore and won, becoming the Leader of the Opposition. After failing to win the 1996 election, she led the Labour Party to a victory in the 1999 election. As Prime Minister of the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand, Clarks government presided over nearly a decade of economic growth and her government was defeated in the 2008 election and she resigned as Prime Minister and Labour Party leader. She resigned from Parliament in April 2009 from her Mount Albert electorate and was replaced by David Shearer to take up the post of Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme. Clarks government implemented major economic initiatives including Kiwibank, the New Zealand Superannuation Fund. Her government also introduced the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 which caused controversy and was eventually repealed in 2011. Clark sent troops to the Afghanistan War, but did not contribute troops to the Iraq War although some medical. Forbes magazine ranked her 20th most powerful woman in the world in 2006 and she rose to the 23rd position in 2014 and then 22nd in 2016. On 26 January 2017 AFP reported that Clark had resigned her directorship of the UN Development Programme, Clark was the eldest of four daughters of a farming family at Te Pahu in the Waikato Region. Her mother, Margaret McMurray, of Irish birth, was a school teacher. Her father, George, was a farmer, Clark studied at Te Pahu Primary School, at Epsom Girls Grammar School in Auckland and at the University of Auckland, where she majored in politics and graduated with an MA in 1974. Her thesis focused on political behaviour and representation. As a teenager Clark became politically active, protesting against the Vietnam War, Clark was brought up as a Presbyterian, attending Sunday school weekly
25.
Stockholm
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The city is spread across 14 islands on the coast in the southeast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago and the Baltic Sea. The area has settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC. It is also the capital of Stockholm County, Stockholm is the cultural, media, political, and economic centre of Sweden. The Stockholm region alone accounts for over a third of the countrys GDP and it is an important global city, and the main centre for corporate headquarters in the Nordic region. The city is home to some of Europes top ranking universities, such as the Stockholm School of Economics, Karolinska Institute and it hosts the annual Nobel Prize ceremonies and banquet at the Stockholm Concert Hall and Stockholm City Hall. One of the citys most prized museums, the Vasa Museum, is the most visited museum in Scandinavia. The Stockholm metro, opened in 1950, is known for its decoration of the stations. Swedens national football arena is located north of the city centre, Ericsson Globe, the national indoor arena, is in the southern part of the city. The city was the host of the 1912 Summer Olympics, and hosted the equestrian portion of the 1956 Summer Olympics otherwise held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Stockholm is the seat of the Swedish government and most of its agencies, including the highest courts in the judiciary, and the official residencies of the Swedish monarch and the Prime Minister. The government has its seat in the Rosenbad building, the Riksdag is seated in the Parliament House, and the Prime Ministers residence is adjacent at the Sager House. After the Ice Age, around 8,000 BCE, there were already a number of people living in the present-day Stockholm area. Thousands of years later, as the ground thawed, the climate became tolerable, at the intersection of the Baltic Sea and lake Mälaren is an archipelago site where the Old Town of Stockholm was first built from about 1000 CE by Vikings. They had a positive impact on the area because of the trade routes they created. Stockholms location appears in Norse sagas as Agnafit, and in Heimskringla in connection with the legendary king Agne, the earliest written mention of the name Stockholm dates from 1252, by which time the mines in Bergslagen made it an important site in the iron trade. The first part of the name means log in Swedish, although it may also be connected to an old German word meaning fortification, the second part of the name means islet, and is thought to refer to the islet Helgeandsholmen in central Stockholm. Stockholms core, the present Old Town was built on the island next to Helgeandsholmen from the mid 13th century onward. The city originally rose to prominence as a result of the Baltic trade of the Hanseatic League, Stockholm developed strong economic and cultural linkages with Lübeck, Hamburg, Gdańsk, Visby, Reval, and Riga during this time
26.
Sweden
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Sweden, officially the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and Finland to the east, at 450,295 square kilometres, Sweden is the third-largest country in the European Union by area, with a total population of 10.0 million. Sweden consequently has a low density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre. Approximately 85% of the lives in urban areas. Germanic peoples have inhabited Sweden since prehistoric times, emerging into history as the Geats/Götar and Swedes/Svear, Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural, while the north is heavily forested. Sweden is part of the area of Fennoscandia. The climate is in very mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence. Today, Sweden is a monarchy and parliamentary democracy, with a monarch as head of state. The capital city is Stockholm, which is also the most populous city in the country, legislative power is vested in the 349-member unicameral Riksdag. Executive power is exercised by the government chaired by the prime minister, Sweden is a unitary state, currently divided into 21 counties and 290 municipalities. Sweden emerged as an independent and unified country during the Middle Ages, in the 17th century, it expanded its territories to form the Swedish Empire, which became one of the great powers of Europe until the early 18th century. Swedish territories outside the Scandinavian Peninsula were gradually lost during the 18th and 19th centuries, the last war in which Sweden was directly involved was in 1814, when Norway was militarily forced into personal union. Since then, Sweden has been at peace, maintaining a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs. The union with Norway was peacefully dissolved in 1905, leading to Swedens current borders, though Sweden was formally neutral through both world wars, Sweden engaged in humanitarian efforts, such as taking in refugees from German-occupied Europe. After the end of the Cold War, Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995 and it is also a member of the United Nations, the Nordic Council, Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Sweden maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. The modern name Sweden is derived through back-formation from Old English Swēoþēod and this word is derived from Sweon/Sweonas. The Swedish name Sverige literally means Realm of the Swedes, excluding the Geats in Götaland, the etymology of Swedes, and thus Sweden, is generally not agreed upon but may derive from Proto-Germanic Swihoniz meaning ones own, referring to ones own Germanic tribe
27.
Adelaide
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Adelaide is the capital city of the state of South Australia, and the fifth-most populous city of Australia. In June 2016, Adelaide had a resident population of 1,326,354 million. South Australia, with a total of 1, the demonym Adelaidean is used in reference to the city and its residents. Adelaide is north of the Fleurieu Peninsula, on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf St Vincent and the low-lying Mount Lofty Ranges which surround the city. Adelaide stretches 20 km from the coast to the foothills, and 94 to 104 km from Gawler at its northern extent to Sellicks Beach in the south. Named in honour of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, queen consort to King William IV, Colonel William Light, one of Adelaides founding fathers, designed the city and chose its location close to the River Torrens, in the area originally inhabited by the Kaurna people. Lights design set out Adelaide in a layout, interspaced by wide boulevards and large public squares. Early Adelaide was shaped by prosperity and wealth—until the Second World War, it was Australias third-largest city and it has been noted for early examples of religious freedom, a commitment to political progressivism and civil liberties. It has been known as the City of Churches since the mid-19th century, as South Australias seat of government and commercial centre, Adelaide is the site of many governmental and financial institutions. Most of these are concentrated in the city centre along the boulevard of North Terrace, King William Street. Today, Adelaide is noted for its festivals and sporting events, its food and wine, its long beachfronts. It ranks highly in terms of liveability, being listed in the Top 10 of The Economist Intelligence Units Worlds Most Liveable Cities index in 2010,2011,2012 and 2015. It was also ranked the most liveable city in Australia by the Property Council of Australia in 2011,2012 and 2013, prior to its proclamation as a British settlement in 1836, the area around Adelaide was inhabited by the indigenous Kaurna Aboriginal nation. Kaurna culture and language was almost completely destroyed within a few decades of the European settlement of South Australia in 1836, however, extensive documentation by early missionaries and other researchers has enabled a modern revival of both language and culture. South Australia was officially proclaimed as a new British colony on 28 December 1836, the event is commemorated in South Australia as Proclamation Day. The site of the capital was surveyed and laid out by Colonel William Light. Adelaide was established as a colony of free immigrants, promising civil liberties and freedom from religious persecution. Wakefields idea was for the Government to survey and sell the land at a rate that would maintain land values high enough to be unaffordable for labourers and journeymen
28.
Governor-General of Australia
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The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia of the Australian monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. The Governor-General is appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia, when travelling abroad, the Governor-General is seen as the representative of Australia, and of the Queen of Australia, so is treated as a head of state. The Governor-General is supported by a staff headed by the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, a Governor-General is not appointed for a specific term, but is generally expected to serve for five years subject to a possible short extension. Since 28 March 2014, the Governor-General has been General Sir Peter Cosgrove, from Federation in 1901 until 1965,11 out of the 15 Governors-General were British aristocrats, they included four barons, three viscounts, three earls, and one prince. Since then, all but one of the Governors-General have been Australian-born, as of 2017, only one Governor-General, Dame Quentin Bryce, was a woman. The selection of a Governor-General is a responsibility for the Prime Minister of Australia, the candidate is approached privately to confirm whether they are willing to accept the appointment. The prime minister advises the monarch to appoint his nominee. This has been the procedure since November 1930, when James Scullins proposed appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs was fiercely opposed by the British government, Scullin was equally insistent that the monarch must act on the relevant prime ministers direct advice. Both of these appointments had been agreed to despite British government objections, despite these precedents, George V remained reluctant to accept Scullins recommendation of Isaacs and asked him to consider Field Marshal Sir William Birdwood. However, Scullin stood firm, and, on 29 November, the King agreed to Isaacss appointment and this right to not only advise the monarch directly, but also to expect that advice to be accepted, was soon taken up by all the other Dominion prime ministers. This, among other things, led to the Statute of Westminster 1931, having agreed to the appointment, the monarch then permits it to be publicly announced in advance, usually several months before the end of the current Governor-Generals term. During these months, the person is referred to as the Governor-General-designate, the actual appointment is made by the monarch. Governors-General have during their tenure the style His/Her Excellency the Honourable, since May 2013, the style used by a former Governor-General is the Honourable, it was at the same time retrospectively granted for life to all previous holders of the office. From the creation of the Order of Australia in 1975, the Governor-General was, ex officio, Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order, and therefore became entitled to the post-nominal AC. In 1986 the Letters Patent were amended again, and Governors-General appointed from that time were again, ex officio, until 1989, all Governors-General were members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and thus held the additional style the Right Honourable for life. The same individuals were also usually either peers, knights, or both, in 1989, Bill Hayden, a republican, declined appointment to the British Privy Council and any imperial honours. Dame Quentin Bryce was the first Governor-General to have had no title or pre-nominal style. Until 2015, the honour continued after the retirement from office of the Governor-General, formerly, the Governor-General automatically became a knight or dame upon being sworn in
29.
Peter Hollingworth
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Peter John Hollingworth AC, OBE is an Australian retired Anglican bishop. Engaged in social work for decades, he served as the Archbishop of Brisbane for 11 years from 1989 and was the 1991 Australian of the Year. He served as the 23rd Governor-General of Australia from 2001 until 2003 and he is also an author and recipient of various civil and ecclesiastical honours. In 2003 he became only the third governor-general to resign, after criticisms were aired over his conduct as Archbishop of Brisbane in the 1990s, born in Adelaide, South Australia, Hollingworth moved to Melbourne, Victoria in 1940. After attending Lloyd Street and Murrumbeena primary schools he received his education at Scotch College, Melbourne, then began a cadetship with BHP. After matriculating in 1954 he enrolled at the University of Melbourne and he graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Licentiate of Theology. On 6 February 1960 he married Kathleen Ann Turner, an obstetric physiotherapist, Hollingworth was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1960. Hollingworth became deacon-in-charge and then priest-in-charge of St Marys North Melbourne, in 1964 he joined the Brotherhood of St Laurence, an independent Anglican welfare organisation, as chaplain and director of youth and childrens work, then as director of social policy and research. He wrote several books about his work with the poor which became educational texts, as a public advocate on welfare policy he argued, poverty should be looked at in terms of the structure of society rather than the individual case. He was elected a canon of St Pauls Cathedral in 1980, in 1989 he was elected the 8th Archbishop of Brisbane, where he continued his advocacy for the poor and underprivileged and supported the ordination of women. He used his profile to criticise government policy in relation to Aboriginal welfare. In 1998, he attended as a delegate to the 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention. On 22 April 2001 the Prime Minister, John Howard, announced that Hollingworth would be appointed Governor-General of Australia upon the completion of Sir William Deanes term. He was the first Christian cleric to hold the post, though precedent existed at a state level, on 29 June 2001, Hollingworth was sworn in as Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Force. As the governor-general is the Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Australia and that month, the Brisbane Anglican diocese was ordered to pay $834,800 damages to the woman who had been found to have been sexually abused. Hetty Johnston, an advocate for sex abuse victims, instigated a campaign calling for Hollingworth to resign. Hollingworth told the Australian media that, as a newly appointed archbishop at the time and he also said he had not believed that the case involved sexual abuse, but conceded he had not done enough to stop abuses occurring. Phillip Aspinall, Hollingworths successor as archbishop, ordered an inquiry, in May 2003, the report by the Diocese of Brisbane into the handling of the cases was tabled in the Queensland parliament by the Labor Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie
30.
Anglican Church of Australia
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The Anglican Church of Australia is a Christian church in Australia and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is the second largest church in Australia, after the Roman Catholic Church, when the First Fleet was sent to New South Wales in 1787, Richard Johnson of the Church of England was licensed as chaplain to the fleet and the settlement. In 1825 Thomas Scott was appointed Archdeacon of Australia under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Calcutta, William Grant Broughton, who succeeded Scott in 1829, was consecrated the first Bishop of Australia in 1836. In early Colonial times, the Church of England clergy worked closely with the governors, Richard Johnson, a chaplain, was charged by the governor, Arthur Phillip, with improving public morality in the colony, but he was also heavily involved in health and education. Samuel Marsden had magisterial duties, and so was equated with the authorities by the convicts and he became known as the flogging parson for the severity of his punishments. The Church of England lost its privileges in the Colony of New South Wales by the Church Act of 1836. Drafted by the reformist attorney-general John Plunkett, the act established legal equality for Anglicans, Roman Catholics, in 1842 the Diocese of Tasmania was created. In 1847 the rest of the Diocese of Australia was divided into the four dioceses of Sydney, Adelaide, Newcastle. Over the following 80 years the number of dioceses increased to 25, sectarianism in Australia tended to reflect the political inheritance of Britain and Ireland. Until 1945, the vast majority of Roman Catholics in Australia were of Irish descent, the Australian Constitution of 1901 provided for freedom of religion. Australian society was predominantly Anglo-Celtic, with 40% of the population being Anglican and it remained the largest Christian denomination until the 1986 census. After World War II, the ethnic and cultural mix of Australia diversified, the number of Anglicans attending regular worship began to decline in 1959 and figures for occasional services started to decline after 1966. In recent times, the Anglican and other Christian churches of Australia have been active in ecumenical activity, the Australian Committee for the World Council of Churches was established in 1946 by the Anglican and mainline Protestant churches. Since 1 January 1962 the Australian church has been autocephalous and headed by its own primate, on 24 August 1981 the church officially changed its name from the Church of England in Australia to the Anglican Church of Australia. Although the Book of Common Prayer remains the standard for Anglican belief and worship in Australia. Another alternative service book, A Prayer Book for Australia, was published in 1995, in 1985 the general synod of the Australian church passed a canon to allow the ordination of women as deacons. In 1992 the general synod approved legislation allowing dioceses to ordain women to the priesthood, dioceses could choose to adopt the legislation. In 1992,90 women were ordained in the Anglican Church of Australia, after decades of debate the issue of womens ordination, particularly as bishops, continues to divide traditionalists and reformers within the church
31.
South Australia
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South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country, with a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres, it is the fourth-largest of Australias states and territories. Other population centres in the state are relatively small, the state comprises less than 8 percent of the Australian population and ranks fifth in population among the six states and two territories. The majority of its people reside in Adelaide, most of the remainder are settled in fertile areas along the south-eastern coast and River Murray. The states colonial origins are unique in Australia as a settled, planned British province. Official settlement began on 28 December 1836, when the colony was proclaimed at the Old Gum Tree by Governor John Hindmarsh, as with the rest of the continent, the region had been long occupied by Aboriginal peoples, who were organised into numerous tribes and languages. The first British settlement to be established was Kingscote, Kangaroo Island, on 26 July 1836, the guiding principle behind settlement was that of systematic colonisation, a theory espoused by Edward Gibbon Wakefield that was later employed by the New Zealand Company. The goal was to establish the province as a centre of civilisation for free immigrants, promising civil liberties, although its history is marked by economic hardship, South Australia has remained politically innovative and culturally vibrant. Today, it is known for its wine and numerous cultural festivals. The states economy is dominated by the agricultural, manufacturing and mining industries, the state has an increasingly significant finance sector as well. Evidence of human activity in South Australia dates back as far as 20,000 years, with flint mining activity, in addition wooden spears and tools were made in an area now covered in peat bog in the South East. Kangaroo Island was inhabited long before the island was cut off by rising sea levels, thijssen named his discovery Pieter Nuyts Land, after the highest ranking individual on board. The complete coastline of South Australia was first mapped by Matthew Flinders, the land which now forms the state of South Australia was claimed for Britain in 1788 as part of the colony of New South Wales. Although the new colony included almost two-thirds of the continent, early settlements were all on the eastern coast and it took more than forty years before any serious proposal to establish settlements in the south-western portion of New South Wales were put forward. In 1834, the British Parliament passed the South Australia Act 1834, the act stated that 802,511 square kilometres would be allotted to the colony and it would be convict-free. In contrast to the rest of Australia, terra nullius did not apply to the new province, although the patent guaranteed land rights under force of law for the indigenous inhabitants it was ignored by the South Australian Company authorities and squatters. Settlement of seven vessels and 636 people was made at Kingscote on Kangaroo Island. The first immigrants arrived at Holdfast Bay in November 1836, the Colonisation Commissioners intended to establish a police service as soon as misconduct within the increasing population warranted it
32.
Queensland
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Queensland is the second-largest and third-most-populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west, to the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean. Queensland has a population of 4,750,500, concentrated along the coast, the state is the worlds sixth largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 km2. The capital and largest city in the state is Brisbane, Australias third largest city, often referred to as the Sunshine State, Queensland is home to 10 of Australias 30 largest cities and is the nations third largest economy. Tourism in the state, fuelled largely by its tropical climate, is a major industry. Queensland was first inhabited by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders, the first European to land in Queensland was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney, New South Wales at that time included all of what is now Queensland, Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842, the state was named in honour of Queen Victoria, who on 6 June 1859 signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales. The 6th of June is now celebrated statewide as Queensland Day. Queensland achieved statehood with the Federation of Australia on 1 January 1901, the history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement. The north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch, Spanish and French navigators before being encountered by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770, the Australian Labor Party has its origin as a formal organisation in Queensland and the town of Barcaldine is the symbolic birthplace of the party. June 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of its creation as a colony from New South Wales. The Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC, likely via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait, during the last ice age Queenslands landscape became more arid and largely desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. This led to the worlds first seed-grinding technology, warming again made the land hospitable, which brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the states tropical rainforests. In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa and this was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, and it also marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people. The region was explored by French and Spanish explorers prior to the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of the United Kingdom on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming Eastern Australia, including Queensland, the Aboriginal population declined significantly after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century
33.
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
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The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of government from all Commonwealth nations. Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth, attended every CHOGM beginning with Ottawa in 1973 until Perth in 2011, however, she was represented by the Prince of Wales at the 2013 meeting as the 87-year-old monarch was curtailing her overseas travel. The Queen continues to attend CHOGMs held in Europe and was present at the 2015 summit in Malta and is expected to attend the 2018 CHOGM which is to be held in London. The first CHOGM was held in 1971, and there have been 24 held in total and they are held once every two years, although this pattern has twice been interrupted. They are held around the Commonwealth, rotating by invitation amongst its members, in the past, CHOGMs have attempted to orchestrate common policies on certain contentious issues and current events, with a special focus on issues affecting member nations. CHOGMs have discussed the continuation of apartheid rule in South Africa and how to end it, military coups in Pakistan and Fiji, sometimes the member states agree on a common idea or solution, and release a joint statement declaring their opinion. More recently, beginning at the 1997 CHOGM, the meeting has had an official theme, the meetings originated with the leaders of the self-governing colonies of the British Empire. The First Colonial Conference in 1887 was followed by meetings, known as Imperial Conferences from 1907. The development of the independence of the dominions, and the creation of a number of new dominions, as well as the invitation of Southern Rhodesia, changed the nature of the meetings. As the dominion leaders asserted themselves more and more at the meetings, from the ashes of the Second World War, seventeen Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conferences were held between 1944 and 1969. Of these, sixteen were held in London, reflecting then-prevailing views of the Commonwealth as the continuation of the Empire, two supplementary meetings were also held during this period, a Commonwealth Statesmens meeting to discuss peace terms in April 1945, and a Commonwealth Economic Conference in 1952. The 1960s saw an overhaul of the Commonwealth and this decentralisation of power demanded a reformulation of the meetings. Instead of the meetings always being held in London, they would rotate across the membership, subject to countries ability to host the meetings and they were also renamed the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings to reflect the growing diversity of the constitutional structures in the Commonwealth. The core of the CHOGM are the executive sessions, which are the formal gatherings of the heads of government to do business, the rules are very strict, allowing the head of the delegation, his or her spouse, and one other person. The additional member can be of any capacity, but he or she has only occasional, as the scope of the CHOGM has expanded beyond the meetings of the heads of governments themselves, the CHOGMs have become progressively shorter, and their business compacted into less time. The 1971 CHOGM lasted for nine days, and the 1977 and 1991 CHOGMs for seven days each, however, Harares epochal CHOGM was the last to last a week, the 1993 CHOGM lasted for five days, and the contentious 1995 CHOGM for only three-and-a-half. The 2005 and subsequent conferences were held over two-and-a-half days, during the 1980s, CHOGMs were dominated by calls for the Commonwealth to impose sanctions on South Africa to pressure the country to end apartheid. According to one of Margaret Thatchers former aides, Mrs. Thatcher, very privately, a bomb exploded at the Sydney Hilton Hotel, the venue for the February 1978 Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting
34.
Coolum Beach, Queensland
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Coolum Beach is a beachside town on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia and is also the beach around which the town is based. The name is derived from the local Undumbi word gulum or guloom, meaning blunt or headless, referring to the shape of Mount Coolum, according to Aboriginal legend, Ninderry knocked off Coolums head and it fell into the ocean and is now Mudjimba Island. The Coolum district was the land of the Inabara or Yinneburra clan of the Undanbi Tribe. In turn, they were part of the group of the Kabi Kabi. In 1823, the first Europeans to pass through Coolum were castaways, the first land selection in Coolum was made in 1871 by Grainger Ward - a pastoral lease of 255 hectares. Here, Ward ran upwards of 300 head of cattle, in 1881, Mark Blasdall selected his own lease of 252 hectares. Blasdall was the first to plan sugarcane in the area and to cut timber and he built two huts and a sawmill as well as clearing Coolum Creek, thus enabling steampships to enter to load timber and deliver supplies. By 1882 the steampships Tadorna Radjah and Gneering began to travel from Brisbane to Coolum creek. In 1883 the first Coolum land was freehold and by 1884, Blasdall was declared insolvent, the first permanent settler of Coolum was William Perry-Keene and his family in 1905. His home was called Green Hills and was situated at the corner of Beach Road, Daytona, between 1906 and 1912 many people settled permanently in the region. By 1912 there were eight to 12 families living in the district, in 1909, Coulsin established a mailboat service on the Maroochy River. This provided the first regular connection between Coolum and the railhead at Yandina, in 1911, a horse-drawn tramline and punt loading facilities were built at Coolum Creek. Construction of the first paved road to Coolum was undertaken between 1922 and 1925 and this provided vehicle access from Coolum to Yandina. In 1923, the tramline to Coolum was opened and unscheduled passenger services began, over this time considerable expansion of the sugarcane industry took place. Cane farming provided the source of financial stability in the district until the advent of tourism in the 1960s. In 2002 Coolum hosted the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, replacing the 2001 meeting that was postponed and moved from Brisbane in the wake of the September 11 attacks, in 2006 Australian census, the population of Coolum was 7,744. Mount Coolum dominates the landscape, and can be seen from most of Coolum, mt Coolum National Park provides a 1.6 km bush walk up the mountain to 360 degree views of the coast. The track was upgraded in 2012 to improve safety and accessibility, Coolum State School is located at the entrance to the town off the Sunshine Motorway
35.
Queen's Official Birthday
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The sovereigns birthday was first officially marked in the United Kingdom in 1748, for King George II. In some cases, it is a public holiday, sometimes aligning with the celebration of other events. Most Commonwealth realms release a Queens Birthday Honours list at this time, except in the states of Western Australia and Queensland, Australia observes the Queens Birthday on the second Monday in June. There is no rule to determine this date, though it is usually the last Monday of September or the first Monday of October. Starting in 2016, Queensland celebrates the holiday on the first Monday of October, so that a long weekend coincides with the AFL, the day has been celebrated since 1788, when Governor Arthur Phillip declared a holiday to mark the birthday of the King of Great Britain. Until 1936, it was held on the birthday of the monarch. This has more evenly spaced out public holidays throughout the year, the Queens Birthday weekend and Empire Day were the traditional times for public fireworks displays in Australia. The sale of fireworks to the public was banned in various states through the 1980s, tasmania is the only state and the Northern Territory the only territory to still sell fireworks to the public. The Queens Birthday Honours List, in new members of the Order of Australia. A royal proclamation issued on 5 February 1957 established the Canadian monarchs official birthday as the last Monday before 25 May. The sovereigns birthday had been observed in Canada since 1845, when the parliament of the Province of Canada passed a statute to officially recognize Queen Victorias birthday,24 May. Edward VIII abdicated on 11 December 1936, three days before the birthday of his brother, the new king of Canada, George VI, the King expressed to his ministers his wish that his birthday not be publicly celebrated, in light of the recent circumstances. George VIs official birthday in Canada was thereafter marked on various days between 20 May and 14 June, the two holidays are in law entirely distinct except for being appointed to be observed on the same day, it is a general holiday in Nunavut and New Brunswick. The reigning Canadian monarch has been in Canada for his or her birthday twice. The first time was 20 May 1939, when King George VI was on a coast-to-coast tour of Canada, in 2014, the couple attended a ceremony in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Despite Fiji ceasing to be a Commonwealth realm in 1987, following a military coup détat. That year, the government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama announced the holiday would be abolished. In New Zealand, the holiday is the first Monday in June, celebrations are mainly official, including the Queens Birthday Honours list and military ceremonies
36.
Government House, Canberra
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Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla, is the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia. It is located in the suburb of Yarralumla, in the City of Canberra, the house is set amid 54 hectares of parkland. The suburb of Yarralumla, which has grown up around Government House, is one of Canberras most expensive residential areas, the governor-general also receives visiting heads of state and other dignitaries and the credentials of ambassadors to Australia, and entertains people from all walks of life. The Queen of Australia, Elizabeth II, and foreign heads of state stay at Government House when on official visits to Canberra. Between 1901, when the Commonwealth of Australia came into being, and 1927, most government offices were located in Melbourne as well and Government House, Melbourne served as the governor-generals official residence. Yarralumlas existing brick house, which had begun life as a rural home, was subsequently renovated, enlarged and transformed into a vice-regal residence. Due to the First World War and the adverse economic conditions that prevailed in its immediate wake. It was only at time that the governor-general began to use Yarralumla as his official seat. In 1930, Melbournes Government House was finally returned to the Victorian State Government for use by the Governor of Victoria, however, Federal Cabinet had met at Government House as early as 30 January 1924, on that occasion chaired by the acting Prime Minister, Earle Page. This was still three years before the opening of Parliament House and Canberra becoming the National Capital, american architect Walter Burley Griffin included provision for an impressive, purpose-built Government House in his plans for the modern city of Canberra. The core part of the current vice-regal structure began life as a double-gabled Victorian-era house and that single-storey homestead had been lived in continuously by the interrelated Murray and Gibbes families from 1837 through to the end of 1881. Augustus Onslow Manby Gussie Gibbes had purchased Yarralumla sheep station and its homestead from his brother-in-law, Terence Aubrey Murray, on 1 July 1859 for approximately ₤20,000. Gussie Gibbes made improvements to Yarralumla and as well as running extensive flocks of sheep on the estate, he bred horses for the Indian market and he also planted decorative shrubs and trees among the native eucalypts that dotted the homesteads curtilage. These centred on a deodar cedar which still stands to the houses south at the time of writing. Gussie Gibbes state of health declined as the 1880s dawned and he decided to sell his rural holdings and travel overseas for an extended period with his niece Leila Murray. So, on 8 November 1881, Frederick Campbell — who had been managing the neighbouring Duntroon sheep station for his uncle, unlike Gibbes, Campbell was a married man with a growing family that needed to be accommodated. He partially demolished the old Yarralumla homestead in 1890 and, the year, finished building a three-storey. NSW Government land-title records show that Campbell borrowed money from Gibbes to help pay for the building project, in 1899, Campbell razed what was left of the original homestead, replacing it with a substantial brick extension to the main house
37.
Canberra
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Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of 381,488, it is Australias largest inland city, the city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory,280 km south-west of Sydney, and 660 km north-east of Melbourne. A resident of Canberra is known as a Canberran, the site of Canberra was selected for the location of the nations capital in 1908 as a compromise between rivals Sydney and Melbourne, Australias two largest cities. It is unusual among Australian cities, being a planned city outside of any state, similar to Washington, D. C. in the United States. Following an international contest for the design, a blueprint by American architects Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin was selected. The Griffins plan featured geometric motifs such as circles, hexagons and triangles, the citys design was influenced by the garden city movement and incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that have earned Canberra the title of the bush capital. Although the Australian Capital Territory is now self-governing, the Commonwealth Government retains some influence through the National Capital Authority, the Australian Armys officer corps is trained at the Royal Military College, Duntroon and the Australian Defence Force Academy is also located in the capital. The ACT is independent of any state to prevent any one state from gaining an advantage by hosting the seat of Commonwealth power, the ACT has voting representation in the Commonwealth Parliament, and has its own independent Legislative Assembly and government, similar to the states. Compared to the averages, the unemployment rate is lower. Property prices are high, in part due to comparatively restrictive development regulations. An 1830s map of the region by Major Mitchell indeed does mark the Sullivans Creek floodplain between two mountains as Nganbra. Nganbra or Nganbira could readily have been anglicised to the name Canberry, survey plans of the district dated 1837 refer to the area as the Canberry Plain. Although popularly pronounced /ˈkænbərə/ or /ˈkænbɛrə/, the pronunciation at its official naming in 1913 was /ˈkæn. brə/. Before white settlement, the area in which Canberra would eventually be constructed was seasonally inhabited by Indigenous Australians, archaeological evidence of settlement in the region includes inhabited rock shelters, rock paintings and engravings, burial places, camps and quarry sites, and stone tools and arrangements. Artefacts suggests early human activity occurred at some point in the area 21,000 years previously, European exploration and settlement started in the Canberra area as early as the 1820s. There were four expeditions between 1820 and 1824, white settlement of the area probably dates from 1823, when a homestead or station was built on what is now the Acton peninsula by stockmen employed by Joshua John Moore. He formally applied to purchase the site on 16 December 1826, on 30 April 1827, Moore was told by letter that he could retain possession of 1,000 acres at Canberry. The European population in the Canberra area continued to grow throughout the 19th century
38.
The Guardian
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The Guardian is a British daily newspaper, known from 1821 until 1959 as the Manchester Guardian. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, the Scott Trust became a limited company in 2008, with a constitution to maintain the same protections for The Guardian. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than to the benefit of an owner or shareholders, the Guardian is edited by Katharine Viner, who succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. In 2016, The Guardians print edition had a daily circulation of roughly 162,000 copies in the country, behind The Daily Telegraph. The newspaper has an online UK edition as well as two international websites, Guardian Australia and Guardian US, the newspapers online edition was the fifth most widely read in the world in October 2014, with over 42.6 million readers. Its combined print and online editions reach nearly 9 million British readers, notable scoops include the 2011 News International phone hacking scandal, in particular the hacking of murdered English teenager Milly Dowlers phone. The investigation led to the closure of the UKs biggest selling Sunday newspaper, and one of the highest circulation newspapers in the world, in 2016, it led the investigation into the Panama Papers, exposing the then British Prime Minister David Camerons links to offshore bank accounts. The Guardian has been named Newspaper of the Year four times at the annual British Press Awards, the paper is still occasionally referred to by its nickname of The Grauniad, given originally for the purported frequency of its typographical errors. The Manchester Guardian was founded in Manchester in 1821 by cotton merchant John Edward Taylor with backing from the Little Circle and they launched their paper after the police closure of the more radical Manchester Observer, a paper that had championed the cause of the Peterloo Massacre protesters. They do not toil, neither do they spin, but they better than those that do. When the government closed down the Manchester Observer, the champions had the upper hand. The influential journalist Jeremiah Garnett joined Taylor during the establishment of the paper, the prospectus announcing the new publication proclaimed that it would zealously enforce the principles of civil and religious Liberty. Warmly advocate the cause of Reform, endeavour to assist in the diffusion of just principles of Political Economy and. Support, without reference to the party from which they emanate, in 1825 the paper merged with the British Volunteer and was known as The Manchester Guardian and British Volunteer until 1828. The working-class Manchester and Salford Advertiser called the Manchester Guardian the foul prostitute, the Manchester Guardian was generally hostile to labours claims. The Manchester Guardian dismissed strikes as the work of outside agitators –, if an accommodation can be effected, the occupation of the agents of the Union is gone. CP Scott made the newspaper nationally recognised and he was editor for 57 years from 1872, and became its owner when he bought the paper from the estate of Taylors son in 1907. Under Scott, the moderate editorial line became more radical, supporting William Gladstone when the Liberals split in 1886
39.
The Mall, London
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The Mall is a road in the City of Westminster, central London, between Buckingham Palace at its western end and Trafalgar Square via Admiralty Arch to the east. Before it terminates at Whitehall it is met by Horse Guards Road and Spring Gardens where the Metropolitan Board of Works and it is closed to traffic on Sundays, public holidays and on ceremonial occasions. The Mall began as a field for playing pall-mall, in the 17th and 18th centuries it was a fashionable promenade, bordered by trees. C. These routes were intended to be used for major national ceremonies, as part of the development – designed by Aston Webb – a new façade was constructed for Buckingham Palace, and the Victoria Memorial was erected. The Queen Victoria Memorial is immediately before the gates of the Palace, the length of The Mall from where it joins Constitution Hill at the Victoria Memorial end to Admiralty Arch is exactly 0.5 nautical miles. St. Jamess Park is on the side of The Mall, opposite Green Park and St Jamess Palace. Running off The Mall at its end is Horse Guards Parade. The surface of The Mall is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace and this colour was obtained using synthetic iron oxide pigment from Deanshanger Oxide Works, which was created using the Deanox Process devised by chemist Ernest Lovell. It was David Eccles decision, as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954 and these scenes were repeated in 2011 for the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, and again in 2012 for the Queens Diamond Jubilee, and the Jubilee concert. Scheduled buses are not allowed to use the Mall and go past Buckingham Palace except by permission of the monarch and this has only happened twice in history, in 1927 and in 1950. The annual London Marathon finishes on The Mall and it was also the start and finish line for the marathon course, the road race, and the race walks of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The womens marathon took place on 5 August and the mens Olympic marathon on 12 August, the mens 20 km walk took place on 4 August, with the mens 50 km walk and womens 20 km walk took place on 11 August. The Paralympic marathons were held on 9 September, media related to The Mall, London at Wikimedia Commons
40.
Daily Mail
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The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust and published in London. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982, Scottish and Irish editions of the daily paper were launched in 1947 and 2006 respectively. A survey in 2014 found the age of its reader was 58. It had a daily circulation of 1,510,824 copies in November 2016. Its website has more than 100 million unique visitors per month, the Daily Mail has been accused of racism, and printing sensationalist and inaccurate scare stories of science and medical research. The Mail was originally a broadsheet but switched to a format on 3 May 1971. On this date it absorbed the Daily Sketch, which had been published as a tabloid by the same company. The publisher of the Mail, the Daily Mail and General Trust, is currently a FTSE250 company, the paper has a circulation of around two million, which is the fourth largest circulation of any English-language daily newspaper in the world. Circulation figures according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations in March 2014 show gross daily sales of 1,708,006 for the Daily Mail. According to a December 2004 survey, 53% of Daily Mail readers voted for the Conservative Party, compared to 21% for Labour, the main concern of Viscount Rothermere, the current chairman and main shareholder, is that the circulation be maintained. The Mail has been edited by Paul Dacre since 1992, the Daily Mail, devised by Alfred Harmsworth and his brother Harold, was first published on 4 May 1896. It cost a halfpenny at a time when other London dailies cost one penny, and was more populist in tone and more concise in its coverage than its rivals. The planned issue was 100,000 copies but the print run on the first day was 397,215, Lord Salisbury, 19th-century Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, dismissed the Daily Mail as a newspaper produced by office boys for office boys. By 1902, at the end of the Boer Wars, the circulation was over a million, from the beginning, the Mail also set out to entertain its readers with human interest stories, serials, features and competitions. In 1900 the Daily Mail began printing simultaneously in both Manchester and London, the first national newspaper to do so, the same production method was adopted in 1909 by the Daily Sketch, in 1927 by the Daily Express and eventually by virtually all the other national newspapers. Printing of the Scottish Daily Mail was switched from Edinburgh to the Deansgate plant in Manchester in 1968 and, for a while, in 1987, printing at Deansgate ended and the northern editions were thereafter printed at other Associated Newspapers plants. In 1906 the paper offered £1,000 for the first flight across the English Channel, punch magazine thought the idea preposterous and offered £10,000 for the first flight to Mars, but by 1910 both the Mails prizes had been won. Before the outbreak of World War I, the paper was accused of warmongering when it reported that Germany was planning to crush the British Empire
41.
House of Windsor
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The House of Windsor is the royal house of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms. The houses of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and Windsor have provided five British monarchs to date, including four kings, the name was changed from Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the English Windsor in 1917 because of anti-German sentiment in the British Empire during World War I. During the reign of the Windsors, major changes took place in British society, the British Empire participated in the First and Second World Wars, ending up on the winning side both times, but subsequently lost its status as a superpower during decolonisation. Much of Ireland broke with the United Kingdom and the remnants of the Empire became the Commonwealth of Nations, the current head of the house is monarch of sixteen sovereign states. As well as these separate monarchies, there are also three Crown dependencies, fourteen British Overseas Territories and two associated states of New Zealand. Edward VII and, in turn, his son, George V, were members of the German ducal House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by virtue of their descent from Albert, Prince Consort, husband of Queen Victoria. The King and his family were convinced to abandon all titles held under the German Crown and to change German titles. From 1917 to 1919, George V also stripped 15 of his German relations—most of whom belonged to the House of Hanover—of their British titles and styles of prince, Prince Alastair and Princess Victoria died unmarried and childless. Princess Mary married into the Lascelles family, and Princess Patricia married Alexander Ramsay, neither of the Prince Arthurs had any further children, meaning all subsequent members of the House of Windsor descend from the sons of George V. In 1947, Princess Elizabeth, heir presumptive to King George VI and he was a member of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a branch of the House of Oldenburg, and had been a prince of Greece and Denmark. It is the translation of the German battenberg, which refers to Battenberg. Philip privately complained, I am nothing but a bloody amoeba, I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children. Still, Elizabeth also decreed that her descendants who do not have that style and title would bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor. This came after months of correspondence between the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and the constitutional expert Edward Iwi. Iwi had raised the prospect that the Royal child due to be born in February 1960 would bear the Badge of Bastardy if it were given its mothers maiden name rather than its fathers name and she clearly wished to make this change before the birth of her child. The issue did not affect Prince Charles or Princess Anne, as they had been born with the name Mountbatten, Prince Andrew was born 11 days later, on 19 February 1960. Any future monarch can change the name through a similar royal proclamation. At the creation of the House of Windsor, its head reigned over a unitary British Empire, in the chart below, the countries are differentiated between light green, medium green, and dark green
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Funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother
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The public funeral of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother occurred on Tuesday,9 April 2002 in Westminster Abbey in London, following her death on 30 March 2002 at the age of 101. The Queen Mother had been suffering from a persistent cold which she caught during Christmas 2001 and she was bedridden at Sandringham after her final public engagement on 22 November 2001, when she attended the recommissioning of HMS Ark Royal. She attended the funeral on 15 February in a carrier with blacked–out windows. She then returned to Royal Lodge and she weakened further throughout March 2002, and died on 30 March with her surviving daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, at her bedside. The Queen Mothers body lay at the altar of the Royal Chapel of All Saints near Royal Lodge before being taken to London for her lying in state and funeral. The published order of service included as a preface the verse beginning You can shed tears that she is selected by the Queen. The verse became popular after the funeral, and was later revealed to be based on a poem written some 20 years earlier by David Harkins. The funeral was held in London and it started at 9,48 am on 9 April 2002, when the tenor bell of Westminster Abbey sounded 101 times, each chime representing a year that the Queen Mother had lived. The coffin was taken to the Abbey, about 300 metres away, accompanied by a massed pipe band of 128 musicians drawn from 13 British. Also accompanying the family were members of the Bowes-Lyon family. During the funeral the Union Flag flew at half mast over Buckingham Palace, after the funeral, the Queen Mothers personal standard was lowered for the final time. The doors of Westminster Abbey were first opened at 9,45 am, five minutes later, VIPs and Heads of State began arriving via the Great West Door. At 10,40 am, the party of the Irish Guards arrived at Westminster Hall. Royalty who were not in the procession arrived at the Grand Entrance of Buckingham Palace, All this took part at 10,50 am. The procession lasted from 11,00 am until 11,16 am, members of the Royal Family were chauffeured to the Abbeys Great West Door at 11,05 am to be received by the Dean of Westminster and Chapter, and conducted to St. Georges Chapel. Two minutes later, the visiting clergy participating in the service, such as the then Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey, the Queen left Buckingham Palace in the royal Rolls Royce at 11,12 am, arriving with her entourage at the Great West Door four minutes later. The funeral service began at 11,30 am, lasting about 50 minutes, the funeral started with the choir singing the Funeral Sentences, composed by William Croft and Henry Purcell. The sermon was given by Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a reading from The Pilgrims Progress was given by the Reverend Anthony Burnham, the Psalm was Psalm 121, sung to a setting by William McKie
43.
Commonwealth Day
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Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday in March. The Queen delivers an address to the Commonwealth, which is broadcast throughout the world, while it has a certain official status, Commonwealth Day is not a public holiday in most Commonwealth countries, and there is little public awareness of it. Clementina Trenholme introduced Empire Day in Canadian schools, first in Dundas, Ontario in 1898, on the last school day before 24 May and it was celebrated more widely throughout Canada each year. A typical Empire Day in Canadian schools occupied the day and included inspirational speeches by trustees and songs such as The Maple Leaf Forever. Empire Day was promoted to be 24 May by the League of the Empire and instituted in the United Kingdom in 1904 by Lord Meath and this day was celebrated by lighting fireworks in back gardens or attending community bonfires. It gave the Kings people a chance to show their pride in being part of the British Empire, the Queens Birthday was celebrated in the Cape Colony before the Boer War and thereafter throughout the Union of South Africa. General Jan Smuts was born on the Queens Birthday in 1870, in 1958 Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, in accordance with the new post-colonial relationship between the nations of the former empire. They asked that this notion be included on the agenda of Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in Ottawa that year. The item eventually appeared on the agenda of the 1975 meeting, at the meeting of officials in Canberra in 1976, the Canadian proposal of the second Monday in March was adopted. There is not a uniform observance of the day worldwide, in 2006 Queen Elizabeth II delivered her Commonwealth Day address from St. Andrews Cathedral, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, part of the lead-up to the Commonwealth Games that year in Melbourne. Physical arrangements means the existence of at least two flag poles, the 1964 parliamentary resolutions creating the Maple Leaf flag also retained the Union Flag as an official symbol of Canadas membership in the Commonwealth, and allegiance to the Crown. Empire Day was introduced in the UK in 1904 by Reginald Brabazon, in schools, morning lessons were devoted to exercises calculated to remind of their mighty heritage. The centrepiece of the day was an organised and ritualistic veneration of the Union flag, then, schoolchildren were given the afternoon off, and further events were usually held in their local community. The Union Flag is flown from buildings on the second Monday in March to mark Commonwealth Day. The Scottish Parliament Building also flies the Commonwealth flag from the fourth flagpole, the Queen, and other members of the Royal family, attend a special service at Westminster Abbey. Commonwealth Day is commemorated as a holiday in Gibraltar. In member states of the Commonwealth, Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in March, in 2009, it was celebrated on 9 March. In some countries, such as Belize and in the Bahamas, the Queens Commonwealth Day message is often read at these events
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Buckingham Palace
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Buckingham Palace is the London residence and administrative headquarters of the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and it has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a residence for Queen Charlotte. During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, Buckingham Palace became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb during World War II, the original early 19th-century interior designs, many of which survive, include widespread use of brightly coloured scagliola and blue and pink lapis, on the advice of Sir Charles Long. King Edward VII oversaw a partial redecoration in a Belle Époque cream, many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The palace has 775 rooms, and the garden is the largest private garden in London, the state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September and on some days in winter and spring. In the Middle Ages, the site of the palace formed part of the Manor of Ebury. The marshy ground was watered by the river Tyburn, which flows below the courtyard. Where the river was fordable, the village of Eye Cross grew, ownership of the site changed hands many times, owners included Edward the Confessor and his queen consort Edith of Wessex in late Saxon times, and, after the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror. William gave the site to Geoffrey de Mandeville, who bequeathed it to the monks of Westminster Abbey, in 1531, King Henry VIII acquired the Hospital of St James from Eton College, and in 1536 he took the Manor of Ebury from Westminster Abbey. These transfers brought the site of Buckingham Palace back into royal hands for the first time since William the Conqueror had given it away almost 500 years earlier, various owners leased it from royal landlords and the freehold was the subject of frenzied speculation during the 17th century. By then, the old village of Eye Cross had long fallen into decay. Needing money, James I sold off part of the Crown freehold, clement Walker in Anarchia Anglicana refers to new-erected sodoms and spintries at the Mulberry Garden at S. Jamess, this suggests it may have been a place of debauchery. Eventually, in the late 17th century, the freehold was inherited from the property tycoon Sir Hugh Audley by the great heiress Mary Davies, possibly the first house erected within the site was that of a Sir William Blake, around 1624. The next owner was Lord Goring, who from 1633 extended Blakes house and he did not, however, obtain the freehold interest in the mulberry garden. Unbeknown to Goring, in 1640 the document failed to pass the Great Seal before King Charles I fled London and it was this critical omission that helped the British royal family regain the freehold under King George III. The improvident Goring defaulted on his rents, Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington obtained the mansion and was occupying it, now known as Goring House, Arlington House rose on the site—the location of the southern wing of todays palace—the next year
45.
Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy
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She lived in Britain since 1975. Her paintings, prints and sculptures are figurative, in the genres of portraiture, still-life, landscape. She won international attention in 2002 for being one of two Nigerian artists to have been allowed to paint official portraits of Queen Elizabeth II. Chukwuogo-Roy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 Birthday Honours, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy was born in Ondo State, Nigeria, but moved with her family to Ikom in Cross Rivers State, where her father had extensive cocoa plantations. As a teenager she was a refugee in the Biafran War after which she moved to the home in Awka Anambra State. She studied at East Ham College and subsequently obtained a B. A. Hons, degree in Graphic Design from Hornsey College of Art in 1978. She took up painting professionally in 1988, Chukwuogo-Roy first gained international fame for painting the official Golden Jubilee portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, commissioned by The Commonwealth Secretariat. The full-length portrait was unveiled at a ceremony at Marlborough House by former Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon on Commonwealth Day,2002, Other high-profile commissions include portraits of Kriss Akabusi, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the Lord Mayor of Norwich. She was commissioned by Martin Keown to paint Arsenals Highbury Stadium, in 2003, Chukwuogo-Roy represented the United Kingdom at the European Council Committee in Paris, advising on Contemporary African Art and Artists. In December that year, she instigated and organised the Celebrate Exhibition for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Abuja. Chinwe was a member of the renowned Sudbourne Printmakers, involving several leading Suffolk artists. In December 2012, after an illness with cancer, she died at her home in Hacheston, near Framlingham. Chukwuogo-Roy created paintings, prints and sculptures that are predominantly figurative, in the genres of portraiture, still-life, landscape and her naturalistic portraiture is usually optimistic or celebratory in tone. However, she created many works that, according to Sandra Gibson, writing for Nerve, elicit complex feelings of desperation, dread. Notable among such works are her Migrants series and her African Slave Trade series, examples of Chukwuogo-Roys work are held in many public and private art collections, including that of Queen Elizabeth II, and that of Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria. Chukwuogo-Roy exhibited throughout Britain, as well as internationally, there has been a permanent exhibition of her work in the Menzies & Hancock Rooms at the University of Londons School of Advanced Study since May 2006. Chukwuogo-Roy won many awards and was featured prominently in the international media, a biography entitled Chinwe Roy – Artist, published by Tamarind Books, is now studied by children in the UK as part of the National Curriculum. In 2003, Chukwuogo-Roy was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by the University of East Anglia and her work appeared on the national postage stamps of seven countries during 2006
46.
Head of the Commonwealth
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There is no set term of office or term limit and the role itself involves no part in the day-to-day governance of any of the member states within the Commonwealth. By 1949, the then British Commonwealth was a group of eight countries, India, however, desired to become a republic, but not depart the Commonwealth by doing so. This was accommodated by the creation of the title Head of the Commonwealth for the King, the title is currently held by the elder daughter of George VI, Queen Elizabeth II. The title was devised in the London Declaration as a result of discussions at the 1949 Commonwealth Prime Ministers Conference, since 1953, it has formed a part of the monarchs title in each Commonwealth realm. The Head of the Commonwealth or a representative attends the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and this is a tradition begun by the monarch on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in 1973, when the CHOGM was first held in Canada. During the summit, the Head of the Commonwealth has a series of meetings with Commonwealth countries leaders, attends a CHOGM reception and dinner. The Queen or a representative is present at the quadrennial Commonwealth Games and on every Commonwealth Day. The Commonwealth Secretariat asserts any successor will be chosen collectively by the Commonwealth heads of government, the Daily Telegraph reported that the post is not hereditary and many leaders want an elected head to make the organisation more democratic. In 1949, King George VI was king of each of the countries that comprised the British Commonwealth, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Ceylon, India. However, the Indian Cabinet desired the country become a republic, when India adopted a republican constitution on 26 January 1950, George VI ceased to be its monarch, but it did regard him as Head of the Commonwealth. Elizabeth II became Head of the Commonwealth on her accession in 1952 and it is an entirely new conception built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man, friendship, loyalty, and the desire for freedom and peace. The following year, a Royal Style and Titles Act was passed in each of the Commonwealth realms, in December 1960, the Queen had a personal flag created to symbolise her as Head of the Commonwealth and not associated with her role as queen of any particular country. Over time, the flag has replaced the British Royal Standard when the Queen visits Commonwealth countries of which she is not head of state, when the Queen visits the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, this personal standard—not any of her royal standards—is raised. Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney said Elizabeth was a behind the force in ending apartheid in South Africa
