Prince Philip’s Impact on the Commonwealth of Nations

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: How do you think the passing of Prince Philip and the eventual farewell to the queen will affect the longevity of the commonwealth itself?

PATRICIA SCOTLAND, SECRETARY-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF NATIONS: I think the commonwealth will continue. If you look at what her majesty and the duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, have said, they said that they is a new construct. This isn’t the old empire. This union isn’t brought together by treaty. It’s brought together by values and commitment. And the commonwealth has done some extraordinary things. You will remember that it was the commonwealth who raised the issues in relation to apartheid. It was the commonwealth who put that stake in the ground, and said that we will only be able to have anyone come and join our family if they agree in the equality that there is in terms of each of us. And that is a standard-bearer. And I think both the prince and her Majesty the Queen have been the standard-bearers. And she has always made it clear that she is the queen of her realms, but she is the head of the commonwealth. And that commonwealth is something that she has protected and supported her whole life. And the prince was right there by her side. And I always think of the Commonwealth Studies Conference, which His Royal Highness founded in 1956. And he described it on that stage as an extraordinary experiment. And this was a real pioneering forum for bringing together emerging leaders and talented men and women from the management of industrial corporations, trade unions, the professions, civil society. And his vision was really prescient, because he was creating something which had never been seen before, the bringing together of all these different disciplines from across the commonwealth. And that continues today. More than 60 years later, people from across the commonwealth, leaders from across the commonwealth from all these different disciplines are forging a new vision for what we need to do to develop and deliver the sustainable development goals to challenge climate change and to innovate. And if you read what he said in 1956, it was remarkable, because it was prescient. He was identifying that technology and science would be of real importance for the next millennium. So, I think that his legacy and the vision that he had for humanity is something which I think will really bolster the commonwealth going forward. And all the leaders, I think, honored him for that. And he should be honored. But he never wanted to be. And he did things so gently, in many ways, and in a such self-effacing way, where he had huge humor. He had real judgment, real, real judgment. He was a remarkably kind person. I always found him really warm and witty and challenging, but in the best possible way.