Turnbull didn't oppose Prince Charles becoming Commonwealth head

British republicans say they are "disappointed" Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull did not try to stop the Prince of Wales from being anointed as the next head of the Commonwealth.

At a Commonwealth leaders "retreat" in the grandeur of the Queen's home, Windsor Castle, it was agreed Prince Charles would become the next symbolic leader of the 53-nation club.

During the opening of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, the Queen declared it was her "sincere wish" her son eventually get the non-hereditary role.

But UK organisation Republic's chief executive Graham Smith said the Queen's call amounted to "nepotism".

"It's a shame the one time the Queen makes a rare, unprecedented comment, it's about pushing the interests of her own son," he said.

"This is a really rare, missed opportunity to do something decisive to make the Commonwealth more relevant, more representative in the long-run and have a different kind of figurehead."

But most opinion polls suggest the monarchy remains relatively popular and many Britons are excited about the imminent arrival of a new Royal baby, as well as the marriage of Prince Harry and his American bride-to-be Meghan Markle.

Some British republicans had hoped Mr Turnbull, a well-known high-profile advocate of installing an Australian head of state, would campaign against a Royal being put in the head of Commonwealth role.

"No-one would have been surprised, no-one would have been upset — with the possible exception of some of his own backbench," Mr Smith said.

"We can only guess that's the reason or there has been some hard-nosed horse-trading behind the scenes that we don't know about.

Australia signalled its preference for Prince Charles to become the next head of the Commonwealth when Julia Gillard was prime minister five years ago.

This week, Mr Turnbull again restated his view the "monarch of the United Kingdom" should hold the role — though he said there was no inconsistency in being an Australian republican, while also supporting the British Royal family playing a symbolic Commonwealth leadership role.

Australian Republican Movement chair Peter FitzSimons said he did not understand why Mr Turnbull backed Prince Charles as the next head of the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth leaders also agreed to try to protect the world's oceans from pollution and climate change, and committed themselves to a "cyber-declaration" to combat digital crime.

Leaders agree Charles as Commonwealth head

Reuters - April 21, 2018

Prince Charles has been approved as the successor to Queen Elizabeth as head of the Commonwealth at a meeting of the group's heads of government in Windsor.

"We recognise the role of the Queen in championing the Commonwealth and its peoples," the Commonwealth leaders said in a statement on Friday. "The next head of the Commonwealth shall be His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales."

There have been calls for the role to be rotated around the 53 member states, most of which are former British territories, but in recent days the Queen, 91, the British government and other leaders have backed Charles, 69.

The Commonwealth evolved out of the British empire in the mid-20th century and the Queen has been its head since her reign began in 1952. Charles had long been expected to take on the role even though it is not strictly hereditary.