As Prince Charles anchors Commonwealth, challenges ahead

Prince Charles has become the first British royal to visit Rwanda, representing Queen Elizabeth II as the ceremonial head of the Commonwealth at a summit where both the 54-nation bloc and the monarchy face uncertainty.

Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, visited a memorial to Rwanda’s 1994 genocide on Tuesday, their first appearance in Kigali, the capital, where they are for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this week.

Royal historian Ed Owens said the 73-year-old heir to the British throne may find that when he succeeds his mother as the Commonwealth’s leader “he finds himself in charge of a rapidly disintegrating organization.” But Charles’ decades of commitment to environmental issues could prove an asset with the bloc that includes low-lying island states on the front lines of climate change, he said.

“His care for the climate, his concern about environment is very real,” Owens said.

This week’s summit