Zimbabwe is also expected to seek re-admission under new leadership. The Gambia has been welcomed back into the fold after it had branded the organization an 'extension of colonialism” and withdrew in 2013.

The diverse collective of leaders looked on as she announced she would hand over the top job to her son Prince Charles. The monarch said she hoped the Commonwealth could continue to offer stability and continuity for future generations. On the stage to the prime minister's left, Commonwealth of Nations official head Queen Elizabeth II was flanked by the likes of Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rwanda's President Paul Kagame. There was an opportunity to show just what could be achieved though coordinated action, May said. With that out of the way, she opened the meeting at Buckingham Palace of leaders from across Africa, the Caribbean, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific and urged them to forge a future for common good. Separately, it 'deeply regrets” the legacy of laws that ban same-sex relations and fail to protect women and girls, she said. Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain was 'genuinely sorry” over its threats to deport the descendants of member nations, as the so-called Windrush scandal peaked.

Commonwealth heads of government had barely touched down in London this week when apologies began rolling out of Downing Street.

What are the 53 commonwealth countries