XN000022-1981-03-08 — Page 2

THE FOLLOWING IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 8 AM ON MONDAY (MARCH 9).

SUNDAY, MARCH 8, 1981

QUEEN'S COMMONWEALTH DAY MESSAGE

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THE QUEEN, IN HER COMMONWEALTH DAY MESSAGE THIS YEAR, SAID THE COMMONWEALTH IS A WORKING PARTNERSHIP WHICH GROWS AND CHANGES ALL THE TIME. IN THE PAST 50 YEARS, IT HAS GROWN FROM A SMALL NUCLEUS OF COUNTRIES INTO A WORLD-WIDE ASSOCIATION OF 44 STATES AS MORE AND MORE NEW NATIONS JOINED ON ACHIEVING THEIR INDEPENDENCE.

+THE COMMONWEALTH TO WHICH THEY HAVE ALL CHOSEN TO BELONG IS A COMMUNITY OF GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLES WHICH IS DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH THE DIGNITY AND WELL-BEING OF NEARLY A THOUSAND MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO LIVE WITHIN ITS BOUNDS.+

FOLLOWING IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE:

+THE COMMONWEALTH ABOUT WHICH WE ARE ALL THINKING TODAY IS A WORKING PARTNERSHIP WHICH GROWS AND CHANGES ALL THE TIME. THIS YEAR IS ONE OF ITS ANNIVERSARIES, WHEN WE LOOK BACK FIFTY YEARS TO THE PASSING BY THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT OF THE STATUTE OF WESTMINSTER WHICH NOT ONLY GAVE THE COMMONWEALTH ITS NAME BUT ESTABLISHED THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY AMONG ITS MEMBER NATIONS. FROM THE SMALL NUCLEUS OF COUNTRIES ASSOCIATED WITH THAT ACT, THE COMMONWEALTH HAS GROWN INTO A WORLD-WIDE ASSOCIATION OF FORTY-FOUR STATES AS MORE AND MORE NEW NATIONS HAVE JOINED ON ACHIEVING THEIR INDEPENDENCE.

+THE COMMONWEALTH TO WHICH THEY HAVE ALL CHOSEN TO BELONG IS A COMMUNITY OF GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLES WHICH IS DEEPLY CONCERNED WITH THE DIGNITY AND WELL-BEING OF NEARLY A THOUSAND MILLION MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN WHO LIVE WITHIN ITS BOUNDS.

+THROUGH RELATIONS BETWEEN THE FORTY-FOUR GOVERNMENTS, AIDED BY THE COMMONWEALTH SECRETARIAT AND THE COMMONWEALTH FOUNDATION, AND THROUGH THE ACTIVITIES OF SOME THREE HUNDRED UNOFFICIAL BODIES, THE COMMONWEALTH TOUCHES EVERY ASPECT OF THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE. THE RELATIONSHIPS OF NORTH AND SOUTH, RURAL AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION AND HEALTH AND THE NEEDS OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE AMONG THE MANY FIELDS IN WHICH WORK IS GOING ON. IN A SPECIAL WAY THROUGH THE FUND FOR TECHNICAL CO-OPERATION THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES OF THE COMMONWEALTH ARE ABLE TO HELP ONE ANOTHER WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS WHICH THEY HAVE BUILT UP THROUGH THEIR OWN HIGHLY RELEVANT EXPERIENCE.

+ IT IS EASY ENOUGH TO SET UP MACHINERY FOR CO-OPERATION AND TO ORGANISE CONFERENCES, BUT LASTING RESULTS DEPEND ON SYMPATHY, UNDERSTANDING AND ON THE STRENGTH OF THE WILL TO SUCCEED. THIS IS WHERE THE COMMONWEALTH, WITH ITS HABIT OF DIRECT TALKING IN A SHARED LANGUAGE, ITS SHARED HISTORY, AND ITS ABILITY TO GET TOGETHER AND TO GET THINGS DONE, HAS SO MUCH TO GIVE TO MANKIND.+

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