An open letter to King Charles

Your Majesty,

May I express my most heartfelt condolences on the passing of Her late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, your mother. There are few words that can adequately express the sorrow the whole nation feels for the loss of our North Star or indeed how the world feels at the departure of a leader that epitomised so much of what is lacking in today’s statesmen.

But as has been so earnestly demonstrated over the last few days, the show must go on, duty comes before self and the work will be unrelenting.

Sir, you have inherited a troubled nation, it is true to varying degrees in all your realms, and as a constitutional monarchy your ability to affect change can sometimes seem limited. The institution itself is constantly having to prove its worth to every generation, trying to adapt to the needs of your subjects and retell the story of why the stabilising force of the sovereign matters.

There will be pressure on you from all corners. And undoubtedly you will have to ask yourself how does the monarchy retain the consent of the people to continue? As my good friend Sunder Katwala writes, change should be gradual. There is no rush to upend the traditions nor a desperation to preserve it all in aspic. The steady pace of evolution required is a unique and well-honed skill, one I believe, mastered by the Windsors.

The reach of and trust in the monarch is still one of the most powerful and important mechanisms to convene and to revive not just our sense of self, but our communities and our hope for a better future. That is, of course, relevant to community groups and charities up and down the country, but also true of our family of nations.

I am of Pakistani and Indian descent. Our connection with the Commonwealth and the ties to the sovereign gives me a sense of belonging to this country. I am British, born and bred, but represent an increasing number of new Britons who are diverse and somewhat conflicted. We cannot erase the traumas of the past but nor can we dwell on them either.

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For us, and the next generation we produce, we must see some meaningful change to bind our nations closer together through the power of the monarch. If I may be so bold, I have written a chapter in a paper on just this topic. The principal action is a change in your team by creating a new post for Commonwealth private secretary to Your Majesty.

Let us deepen the connection with the Commonwealth, particularly those countries with large ethnic minority communities in the UK. Perhaps even a unit within Buckingham Palace should be dedicated to Commonwealth issues – enhancing, rather than replicating, the work of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, by welcoming the best and the brightest from our family of nations to Britain.

I am hopeful that your reign will bring about yet more understanding and tolerance, and that nations across the world will continue to put their faith in the monarch for constancy and continuity. It is a solid foundation in a world that often feels as though it’s breaking apart. And for that reason alone, I can say of tongue and heart, God save the King.

I have the honour to be, Sir, Your Majesty’s humble and obedient servant.

Salma Shah was a special adviser to Sajid Javid, from 2018 to 2019. She was also a special adviser at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport