ROME -- With Western unity under strain across the Atlantic, senior representatives from Rome’s diplomatic and political scene met to celebrate Commonwealth Day in the Palazzo Valentini. Thanks to the United States’ new isolationist agenda under President Trump, the Commonwealth could be one of the few remaining international groups of nations firmly committed to liberal democracy, observers say, and the enhanced importance of the organisation against that background was not lost on the participant emissaries from the diplomatic corps gathered at the behest of the Commonwealth Club of Rome Chair Ed Mura.

 Members such as the UK, Canada and Australia who are re-evaluating the reliability of their U.S. ally may look in part at least to the Commonwealth as a potential alternative to the prospect of sycophantic grovelling to the new imperial United States, at least diplomatically. The possibility of this given the US’s military and economic heft represented an elephant in the palatial Aula Consiliare on Monday evening as a panel of ambassadors and Roman politicians discussed the significance of the Commonwealth given this challenging international environment. The British Ambassador to Italy, Edward Llewellyn, listened as Chair of the panel, Gianni Lattanzio, General Secretary of the Institute for Cooperation with Foreign Countries (ICPE), stressed the ‘unifying’ power of the Commonwealth which he went so far as to compare to the current Jubilee celebrations of the Holy Year under way at the Vatican in Rome.

 The former Italian Defence Minister, Professoressa Elisabetta Trenta, for her part noted the ‘profound global challenges’ in which the Commonwealth serves as a defence of ‘democracy and freedom’. This is in sharp contrast to growing concerns that the U.S. Administration is increasingly willing to forgo principles of democracy and national determination in favour of “great power” politics.

 The Consul of Namibia, Valeria Tienghi, then read the speech by Britain's King Charles III, head of the Commonwealth, written for the occasion. This poignantly touched on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and, showing the King’s priorities, finished with a reminder of the ‘no more important issue’ of ‘restoring climate harmony’.

 The King’s evoking the anniversary of the last world war could be read as an intervention on Europe’s current security concerns in the wake of what critics see as appeasement of Russian president Vladimir Putin by Trump and his entourage in the Ukraine war. The final focus on environmental concerns also stands in sharp relief to the current Trump Administration’s sidelining of the issue. In many ways this shows the ideological distance that has opened up between the two heads of state despite their “special relationship”. It is unknown how much this will be confronted during Trump’s unprecedented second state visit to the UK.

 A video was played of the King’s love of music, including a reference to Kylie Minogue’s The Loco-Motion. The audience watched somewhat bemused whilst the Australian pop star’s 80’s hit rang out in the auditorium.

 Speeches followed from Kenyan Ambassador Fredrick L. Matwang’a and Zambian Ambassador Patricia Chisanga Kondolo, who offered warm words for the Commonwealth project. This despite an increasing context of criticism towards association with the Crown and Commonwealth from some members. The 2022 visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales' to Jamaica was met with protests and demands for reparations for slavery. Barbados removed the then Queen as head of state in 2021 and Australia recently removed the monarch from their banknotes.

 This highlights perhaps how the Commonwealth’s capacity to replace the Atlantic alliance is constrained by its own imperial origins and geographic disparity, as well as its economic and relative military inconsequentiality though key Commonwealth members such as Canada and Australia are rallying to Britain's call for a 'coalition of the willing' to provide eventually peace-keepers to be deployed in Ukraine.

 With the Western alliance in apparent crisis, the assembly of international diplomats and Italian spokespeople for Commonwealth Day could be said to have represented a rare moment of unity along shared international values.

 Next up in the diplomatic calendar of this little Eternal City for Commonwealth buffs is the expected visit to Rome of King Charles and Queen Camilla in April as they celebrate their wedding anniversary.

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