ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION The modern Commonwealth dates from a 1949 meeting in London, at which Prime Ministers of the then eight countries of the British Commonwealth-Australia, Britain, Canada, Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known), India, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Africa-agreed the London Declaration. This was a watershed document in that before its adoption, constitutional allegiance to the British Crown was a condition of membership of the Commonwealth. After its adoption this was no longer the case. Under what was called the ‘Nehru formula’, it was decided that the then British monarch would become the symbol of their association as free and independent States and as such the Head of the Commonwealth. However, members would no longer need to recognise the monarch as their Head of State and no longer swear an oath of allegiance. In fact the duties of the Head of the Commonwealth would be entirely distinct from those of the British monarch. This in turn meant that countries with republican constitutions could be admitted and that India, which was about to become a republic, could therefore remain in the Commonwealth.
