At the end of the Coronation year in 1953, The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh embarked upon a six-month tour of the Commonwealth. On Christmas Day while in Auckland, New Zealand, Her Majesty recorded her Christmas Broadcast for the radio at Government House, in which she said:

“This great Commonwealth, of which I am so proud to be the Head, and of which that ancient Kingdom forms a part, though rich in material resources is richer still in the enterprise and courage of its peoples… the Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the Empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception, built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace.”

On 21 September, 1957, The Queen addressed the United Nations General Assembly for the first time, saying of the Commonwealth:

“Common ideals and hopes, not formal bonds, unite the members of the Commonwealth and promote that association between them which, in my belief, has contributed significantly to the cause of human freedom.

The countries of the Commonwealth regard their continuing association with one another and joint service to their high ideals as still an essential contribution to world peace and justice. They add and will continue to add to a tried element of strength, and of accumulated experience.”

In The Queen’s Silver Jubilee address to Parliament on 4 May 1977, Her Majesty acknowledged the Commonwealth’s evolution since the beginning of her reign:

“These 25 years have seen much change for Britain. By virtue of tolerance and understanding, the Empire has evolved into a Commonwealth of 36 Independent Nations spanning the five Continents. No longer an Imperial Power, we have been coming to terms with what this means for ourselves and for our relations with the rest of the world.”

The Queen again addressed the United Nations General Assembly on 6 July 2010, speaking as Head of sixteen United Nations Member States and as Head of the Commonwealth. Her Majesty spoke of how much the Commonwealth had grown since her first appearance before the Assembly in 1957, and had “become a group of nations representing nearly two billion people” giving “its whole-hearted support to the significant contributions to the peace and stability of the world made by the United Nations and its Agencies.”