His Majesty's remarks at the CHOGM dinner in Samoa

Ladies and Gentlemen, Talofa lava.  Malo le soifua.

My wife and I are so delighted to be able to host you for dinner this evening.  However wet it may have been, I am told that I have been credited in Samoa with bringing these heavy rains (shades, perhaps of my father’s god-like status in Vanuatu)!  Heralds, I can only hope, of a particularly good harvest!

Now many of you have, I know, nobly travelled a very long way to be in Apia – often, by all accounts, via several different airlines and several different countries over many, many hours and time zones.  But it is, of course, quite normal that our friends from this corner of the world travel great distances to attend international meetings.  So perhaps it is only fair that they occasionally get a break from that.  And I can only say, it will be interesting to see this evening who has the most success in battling jetlag…!

It is, though, a particular joy for me to return here, and deepen my understanding of Samoa and her people. I first visited, can you believe it, Samoa in 1974, as a young Naval Officer aboard a ship called H.M.S. Jupiter.  From my Naval journal which I kept at the time, throughout my naval career, I recall that we held a reception on board, at the end of which the two splendid, hotel-owning sisters, Aggie Grey and Aunt Mary, got up and danced, as I described it, in the beautiful Samoan style.  It is a happy coincidence to be back here on this occasion, at which I attended an event at a hotel that is still named in honour of Aggie Grey, some fifty years later.  It just shows how unbelievable old I am. 

It remains a life-long aspiration to have visited all the countries of the Commonwealth – although nowadays it seems to be a race against our happily increasing numbers – as well as doctor’s orders! 

I want to offer my heartfelt thanks, once again, to the Government and people of Samoa for the wonderful way in which you have welcomed us.  There is so much to learn from Samoa’s outstanding hospitality, the strength of the Samoan spirit, and the immense pride that Samoans have for your country, your culture – not to mention the wonderful way in which your villagers have decorated their roads and communities.  I think, I hope, I speak for many of us when I say how deeply our experiences here have touched us here, and how they will stay with us always – in particular, if I may say so, the unforgettable magic of the singing and dancing at the end of the opening ceremony today.  As far as I am concerned, it raised my spirits to the roof and made me feel unbelievably happy!

This, as you know, is the first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting to be held in a small island state in the Pacific.  In this nation of two hundred thousand souls, are gathered this week; the representatives of 2.7 billion people – a third of the world’s population.  Once again, the extraordinary diversity and enduring power of the Commonwealth are proudly on display.  As I look around the room, this evening, it gives me enormous pride to think that there really are very few occasions in which leaders with such diverse experiences and perspectives can come together over dinner as friends and, indeed, as a family, to learn from and to draw strength from one another.  Together with the boundless potential of the countries and people who make up our unique and incredibly special organization, your friendships offer us the means to confront the challenges we all face, to serve those who are most vulnerable in our societies and to embrace the myriad opportunities before us. 

The Scottish poet, essayist and travel writer, Robert Louis Stevenson – who lived and died on this beautiful island and is commemorated in this museum, his old house – wrote that one should “not judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant.”

As we look from this idyllic place across the world, dark clouds have gathered over many regions, but the Commonwealth can surely be a cause of hope and healing… International challenges on such a scale call for international solutions, through dialogue and discussion. For that is where, eventually, peace resides. The sheer scale and diversity of Commonwealth membership, spanning the entire globe and embracing more than one-third of the human race, gives us the understanding, the credibility and indeed the clout to play a full role in promoting and protecting peace and prosperity.  So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only hope that your vital discussions this week, and the commitments you make to one another, will plant the seeds of a more resilient future; one in which people across the Commonwealth, today and the generations who follow, can thrive and fulfil not just their own potential, but the potential of the global family to which we all belong.  

So let us remember that the potential of our Commonwealth is actually unparalleled in global terms.  Therefore, in raising our glasses together this evening, let us celebrate that aspiration and the strength of the partnership between us. 

Ladies and Gentlemen.