These are photos from Prince William and Kate’s appearance at the Commonwealth Games last summer, almost a year ago exactly. In 2022, the games were held in Birmingham, England. Will and Kate brought Princess Charlotte out for one day to enjoy the swimming and the gymnastics. The Commonwealth Games are sort of like the Olympic Games, except that at CG, only athletes from “British commonwealth countries” participate. And even then, most elite athletes (if they happen to be from Commonwealth countries) avoid it, preserving their bodies for the World Championships, their regional or national competitions or the Olympics. All in all, the Commonwealth Games absolutely lack a certain buzz. Following QEII’s passing, it looks like no country even wants to host the Commonwealth Games anymore.
The government of Alberta has pulled its support for a bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games due to rising costs. Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow said the bill was estimated at C$2.7bn (£1.5bn; $2bn) – a burden “too high for the province to bear”.
The organiser of the Games has said it is “sorry to hear that Alberta is no longer developing its bid proposal”.
Last month Australia pulled out of hosting the 2026 Games in Victoria due to budget blowouts.
Alberta’s withdrawal means there are currently no other firm bids to host the 2030 Games. In a statement, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) thanked all of those who worked on the application and said it believed the Canadian province “could be a fantastic host” for the Commonwealth Games in the future.
Alberta’s initial plan was to host the games over 11 days in August 2030 with competitions and events spread between Calgary and Edmonton, as well as the Tsuut’ina Nation and Enoch Cree Nation. The CGF said dialogue with other potential hosts was “on-going”. In a statement on Alberta’s withdrawal, Mr Schow suggested the corporate sponsorship model and limited broadcast revenues would have put 93% of costs and risks on taxpayers.
He insisted the authorities wanted to be transparent about funding and demonstrating a return on investment. “That is why we have made the decision not to continue pursuing the bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.”
Ouch. The 2026 games aren’t completely canceled – there’s talk that the games might be hosted in London, or maybe even Scotland. There’s no talk about what will happen with the 2030 games though, as in, what country would take over. It doesn’t sound like any country is eager to bid for the games. Which is funny because haven’t there been multiple bids every year to host the Invictus Games? Wasn’t New Zealand trying like hell to host the games in multiple years? LOL. Anyway, most people aren’t even that aware of the Commonwealth Games, honestly – they do not have an international reputation, IMO. I wonder if they’ll just do away with the games altogether in the next few years, especially now that the British Commonwealth is at death’s door.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466381, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466387, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466393, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466404, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466406, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Princess Charlotte of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge attend the Sandwell Aquatics Centre during the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England.,Image: 711466411, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to SportsAid House at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England. The Duchess became the Patron of SportsAid in 2013, Team England Futures programme is a partnership between SportsAid, Sport England and Commonwealth Games England which will see around 1,000 talented young athletes and aspiring support staff given the opportunity to attend the Games and take a first-hand look behind-the-scenes.,Image: 711488094, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge during a visit to SportsAid House at the 2022 Commonwealth Games on August 02, 2022 in Birmingham, England. The Duchess became the Patron of SportsAid in 2013, Team England Futures programme is a partnership between SportsAid, Sport England and Commonwealth Games England which will see around 1,000 talented young athletes and aspiring support staff given the opportunity to attend the Games and take a first-hand look behind-the-scenes.,Image: 711503774, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Chris Jackson / Avalon
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- Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge with their daughter Princess Charlotte of Cambridge at Sandwell Aquatics Centre on day five of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Featuring: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Charlotte Where: Birmingham, England, United Kingdom When: 02 Aug 2022 Credit: Chris Jackson/PA Images/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images **North America Rights Only**
But Canada is still all in for Invictus Games!
@izzy, YES, and I love it 😂
Charles should fund the games. After all, the Commonwealth is a relic of his family’s exploitation and subjugation of other countries, often indigenous. If he wants a Commonwealth, it’s expenses should come from his bloated pocket. Otherwise, cancel the games and the Commonwealth altogether. Then pay the countries back for all you stole from them, including labor.
That’s not quite right. The British Empire was a relic of Great Britain’s exploitation and subjugation of other countries. It was replaced by the Commonwealth in the 20th century. Membership is both voluntary and mutually beneficial for all countries which opted to join. I’m an Australian and a republican (not the American kind with the capital R) and I think the monarchy has long since passed it’s use-by date, but whatever you think of the institution, Queen Elizabeth II facilitated the process of decolonisation over the decades her reign and replaced it with a community of nations which, while not without its flaws, is fundamentally democratic. You can’t simply “cancel the Commonwealth” anymore than you can cancel the United States of America, and the Commonwealth Games are not a private entertainment for the monarch, they’re a collective enterprise on the part of the 56 member states of the Commonwealth, most of which are majority non-white. Telling the people of Kenya or India or Antigua and Barbuda that they can’t participate in the games because you think the event is the king’s prerogative isn’t liberating, it’s just further disenfranchisement.
I think ThatsNotOkay’s point still stands. The British Empire stole from and stunted the natural development of many/most Commonwealth countries and that doesn’t disappear just because you rename it to Commonwealth and its memebership is voluntary. Chuckles should pay and host – if the games are important to its member countries, it is the least that England should do. And abolish the monarchy.
The process of decolonization started well before Elizabeth was Queen. The Statute of Westminster in 1931 was the first legal instrument to provide real independence for Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. Sure it happened because these countries came in to help Britain during WWI, but that’s what help set the path to these countries not having to rely on the UK government for anything. From there the other colonies moved for independence after WWII.
The commonwealth is also conflated with countries who have the British monarch as head of state. There are about 16 countries with the British monarch as head of state, including Canada, Australia and for now Jamaica. India and South Africa are in the commonwealth but they do not have the monarch as head of state. For countries where it is just an association, it is no more of value to them than being a member of the UN, or the OAS. It’s the countries with the British monarch as head of state where the discussion is happening about leaving. And mostly to remove the British monarch as head of state.
How is the Commonwealth “fundamentally democratic” when the late Queen who was the head, lobbied HARD (since 2013), for Charles to be the next head.
It’s not. And the fact that 16 countries just had their head of state automatically change confirms this. Countries like India and South Africa don’t have to deal with that and being head of the commonwealth is a meaningless title for them.
Ha, IIRC, Australia was founded from white folks from Britain killing (in large masses) and exploiting indigenous peoples of those lands. In the end, white folks stole everything that belonged to indigenous folks and called it their own etc, etc with absolutely NO compensation to these people except a FU. When an Australian tries to justify the commonwealth as a democratically free institution for all nations that want to join and points out how a white queen of Britain did this and that for people of color anywhere in the so called commonwealth I just laugh at the complete absurdity of it all.
It seems “quite right” to me. All the Commonwealth countries are former British colonies so that association stands.
@ella please provide evidence of it being mutually beneficial. What countries that aren’t predominantly white are actually benefitting from this?
I have no love for the Commonwealth or its Games, but the most recent countries to join (Rwanda, Mozambique, Gabon and Togo) have no previous ties to the British Empire, so they must have seen/see some benefits from joining it.
Love this. I’m wondering if part of the unspoken reason is grift by the organizers. Olympic Games grift is insane and from what we’ve seen of how the upper tier works in the UK, it would make sense if they were also in on it.
Good point.
William nor Charles care much for the Commonwealth Games. Neither does the public in all these countries. It was QEII and her father’s baby.
Charles and the UK govt will dismantle these ‘cosplay the empire’ games much sooner than later. They’ll be pissed though, given the growth and enthusiasm for Harry’s successful Invictus Games in the Commonwealth countries and around the globe.
Yes why would you want to be a part of something that yields you so little on your return of the investment. That sounds right to me especially when you consider that one of the very dull members of the royal cult might come. I think that the royal cult members don’t ever bring a return on the investment.
The last games were only held in Birmingham because South Africa said they couldn’t hold the event anymore. This is probably the end of the Commonwealth games. Not a great loss.
Just host it somewhere on Salt Island. You know who doesn’t have trouble finding a host country? Harry for Invictus Games 😉
The issues are 3 fold:
1. cost, they are expensive to run and the cost for Australia was close to trip bid price
2. the commonwealth are fed up w the UK with the false commonwealth stuff that they onlu roll out when it benefits them . They were quick to drop everyone for the EU.
3 Meghan, Windrush, prison ships for refuges, pollution- the brits bared their ar$es over the past few years and everyone is fed up.
Good… but don’t get too excited about Alberta doing anything altruistic.
They are the Texas/Florida of Canada, with Ontario right behind them.
Whatever reasons Alberta has for canceling, it has little to do with saving taxpayers money. I guarantee it.
More like the Commonwealth organization refused to grease the wheels with kickbacks to the corrupt Alberta government so they retaliated & cancelled.
You speak the truth, Kokiri.
Alberta has a government that is conservative in name but closer to MAGA nonsense. The premier is super corrupt and anti vaxx but because Alberta blindly votes conservative and has for decades on end, they have someone who is going to really mess up their social safety net.
They dropped these games because just like Doug ford, conservative but more about just making money, they don’t care about the monarchy because it’s not something that right wing people care about in canada. It used to be that conservatives always supported monarchy issues. But now monarchists are even more isolated and weirdo freaks in canada. Current conservatives in canada are closer to libertarian and depending where you go, a version of MAGA nonsense.
Even the conservative federal leader isn’t promoting monarchy stuff. That’s the real death knell.
@nick g that’s a bit of an oversimplification. Alberta doesn’t blindly vote conservative but the majority of rural Alberta does and that’s where the majority of the seats are in provincial elections. The two largest cities Edmonton and Calgary both voted majority NDP in the last provincial election. Both cities have progressive, liberal mayors, and Calgary since 2010.
And we did actually manage to elect Rachel Notley and an NDP government within the past decade.
But yes the UCP and Danielle Smith are insane.
#canadafactcheck
Oops my reply was for the other nic @nic919
Ralph Klein was also in office for way too long. He wasn’t corrupt like Smith, but when a party gets in despite a leader calling a prosecutor in a huge disqualifying conflict of interest, there are not enough decent voters to have kept her out.
Ontario does the same. They re-elected corrupt thug Doug Ford, so lots of idiots in Ontario too.
Nic919, you are right on with your posts.
And about Ontario too. I’m in Ontario, under the “leadership” of conservatives in both federal & provincial levels. I see the misinformation in their mailers, the lies on their Twitter accounts, I see & feel Ford dismantling our health care to privatize every day.
It’s the same in Alberta. Never forget that the minister of Health Shandro showed up at a physician’s home just to harass him. He kept his job.
And that’s a mild example of how awful & corrupt their govt is.
Worse: when Kenney elected there was suspicions of election tampering, so he was being investigated. Once he was worn in he fired the people investigating him, the ethics committee.
It’s one thing to want to be proud of Canada, & quite another to bury one’s head about reality.
Alberta sucks. They always have had an inflated ego because oil. Whatever.
@kokiri and @nic919 good to see you’re not letting pesky facts get in the way of your narrative. Alberta popular vote was 44% NDP vs 53% UCP in may of this year.
There are many of us who are extremely dismayed at the political situation with the UCP under Kenney and Smith but it’s also hard to fight the electoral districts. Thanks for writing everyone off in Alberta though.
Hope no one else pees in your corn flakes tomorrow. Cheers.
@Noo
I wrote off Alberta decades ago. These are not new problems with Alberta, no matter how many statistics you post about elections from the past few years, even 10 years. Alberta may have managed to elect Notley, & good on you guys I guess, but one election cycle doesn’t a province make. Alberta has been problematic for decades, a pain in the ass for Canada.
Sorry you have to live there, though the mountains are pretty.
Anyway, I don’t like corn flakes, but thanks for trying to be clever.
Thank you for this insight!
Thank you @manda for your kind words. I come to CB for so many reasons and one big one is to learn from other commenters. I get frustrated seeing misinformation posted about Canada, I don’t know if it’s Canadians from other provinces or territories (@nic919?) or people living in other countries but it gets my goat just a bit! 🐐
It’s not misinformation to say Alberta blindly votes conservative. The election results for decades bear that out. Since no government gets in with a 100% majority it doesn’t mean everyone is ok with them, but it means not enough of them are fine with it.
Yeah, Danielle Smith (for non-Canadians she’s Premier of the United Conservative Party) is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg and has gotten into all sorts of unethical situations from interfering in criminal cases for political reasons, comparing people getting the covid vaccine to Nazi followers, against development of wind and solar power but very pro oil and gas exploration. She’s as close to MAGA as Canadians can get.
It’s amazing how the same group that goes wild over the China interference story and everything else about potential interference at the federal level can turn a blind eye to a premier who literally phones up a prosecutor to influence him. Like actual recorded evidence.
I think it is more fair to say people outside the Commonwealth are not aware of the games not that it isn’t internationally known. The Commonwealth comprises a fair part of the world’s population. It isn’t about promoting the Commonwealth or publicity outside that membership but fostering ties within it.
Having said that, this Canadian is glad Canada is stepping back from it. Not only is it costly, I think as our country struggles with its own reckoning of colonialism, this is a good sign.
I had never even heard of the Commonwealth Games until it was covered here last year so this doesn’t surprise me
Yes in Australia it was because the costs had ballooned out and it just wasn’t practical.
A lot of people were upset but mainly because of all the training the athletes do to prepare for such an event and how disappointing for them .
Which is fair enough I guess .
Well, it is 2023 & they’re canceling games for 2026 & 2030, so I think the athletes won’t be too upset. Some gymnasts are probably still in grade school!
It’s mostly smaller national sport bodies that are upset now but it definitely has a flow on effect for athletes. Many of the sports get high performance funding because of their commonwealth games performances, as they aren’t able to win at world championships or Olympics. So they stand to lose a lot of money, and ultimately that hurts athletes.
I have a good friend from India, and she once told me that the only reason any country still wants to be in the Commonwealth at all is because the Commonwealth Games provide the best chance for the “little guys” to medal in international competitions. Of course she meant it as a joke at the time, but now I wonder…
Nah that’s absolutely true.
New Zealand wasn’t that interested in holding the Commonwealth Games. Now if you are talking about Rugby World Cup or FIFA Women’s World Cup that’s another story. The soccer games are being shared out between Australia and New Zealand and it seems to be working well sharing the event between our two countries.
Formerly known as the British empire games – it’s time to dump this historical relic and pseudo idea that we’re one big happy family linked together by the crown.
There is a wonderful clip on twitter’X’ from an Indian journalist program called Gravitas @MollyGambhir she absolutely excoriates the whole notion of the CGs. Some highlights
The commonwealth …..
Nothing in common and no wealth ….it’s a-hangover of British imperialism propping up the faded prestige of the British crown . The only thing that commonwealth countries have, is memories of shared oppression. ….Australia and Canada still have the crown as their head of state….and even they won’t host it…. Top athletes don’t bother to turn up…Usain Bolt has only ever run in 1 commonwealth games …..most commonwealth countries haven’t even got trade agreements between themselves …. This is just a relic, a tea party with stale sandwiches. The commonwealth should be renamed Stolenwealth!
NB: Apparently the UK taxpayers had to subsidise the most recent ‘ successful ‘ CGs in Birmingham to the tune of £1billion.
@Roseberry
I heard the clip on Twitter/X. She was brilliant!
The 2 historians on H&M’s Netflix docuseries also spilled some home-truths abt the CWealth that really riled up the haters on ShidtIsland.
I suspect hosting the CW games imposes the same challenges as hosting the Olympic Games – costs of upgrading existing facilities and/or building new facilities, and costs of greasing selection committee hands – but without the same promise of tourism and some television revenues. I don’t blame any CW country for their lack of interest in hosting.
Countries aren’t all that interested in hosting the Olympic Games, either. Hugely expensive, lots of white elephant venues left over, and the IOC takes more than half of the broadcast revenue.
This. The number of sports keeps expanding, thus the price tag goes up, but there are only so many broadcast hours in a day to get revenue. Plus big time sport is inherently corrupt.
If the Olympics is going to keep going, there needs to be permanent sites that the games rotate between. Athens, Los Angeles, and Beijing for Summer? Scandinavia, Canada, and Japan for winter?
Absolutely. The idea for permanent sites was suggested back in 60’s, but that would shut out opportunities for truly interesting bribery, not to mention corrupt spending within the host countries.
Hmmm, interesting no Southern Hemisphere cities on your list, no third world cities on your list, no African or South American cities on that list. Especially, given that the predicted population growth over the next century expected in those two continents and the Southern hemisphere.
I am pretty sure the residents of Los Angeles would MURDER anyone who tries to permanently make their traffic worse, even if it’s only for a limited time period every few years.
Exactly. These types of games are expensive to host, I’m not surprised countries are passing on them.
Invictus offers a good model actually bc they use pre-existing structures. No one is building new $$$$ stadiums and swimming pools etc to host the Invictus Games. I’m not sure if Commonwealth Games have the same expectations as the Olympics – all new shiny venues – but if there’s even half that expectation, it makes sense why countries aren’t willing to shell out that money anymore.
To be fair Invictus is a TINY event in comparison, like it’s not even close. It has also largely picked cities with existing infrastructure from previous games/large events.
To be fair Invictus is a TINY event compared to the Olympics, or even commonwealth games. They’re quite easily able to use existing infrastructure.
If countries stop sending athletes that will end the games.
Hmm it will be interesting to see where it finally ends up.
There is a serious lack of enthusiasm from the family who benefits from these games. They did so little for the games hosted in the UK and it’s especially obvious from the two who make sure to attend all the other tennis and soccer events.
Harry goes to Invictus and is there the whole time. These are the games he’s set up. He cares about their success. It’s obvious the family doesn’t really care about commonwealth games and with no star power, that’s part of why it’s falling apart.
The cost of living crisis gives everybody including UK the excuse to hold the Games in abeyance and then let it die a natural death in years to come.
Cue insane stories about Sussex irrelevancy and unpopularity as the British royal family and British Media try to divert attention away from this and project their reality and fears onto Harry and Meghan.
Sigh…the BRF will be especially unhinged during Invictus Games 2023. They’re bad enough when they lose the one sided competition they have in their heads. I can only imagine what the BRF will authorize now that countries are dropping the commonwealth games but fighting to host the Invictus games.
Tell me why I am just learning about the Commonwealth Games today lol? I didn’t even know they were a thing. Countries are struggling with the cost of living crisis – I can see why they don’t want to foot the bill so Kate & William (cuz you know Chuck & Cam weren’t going to attend) to prance around and feel important. They can’t even attract elite athletes from the sound of it. So what’s the point?
If the Firm had taken up the Sussexes offer to work part time, they could have appeared at the Commonwealth Games and many countries would have supported the games. However, the royals principly WanK couldn’t handle the Sussexes being Commonwealth Youth Ambassadors so they pushed them out. Now England can barely keep Scotland Ireland and Wales in the United Kingdom and lazy Wales can’t be bothered to travel 20 kilometers.
There’s so many games out there that it’s hard to keep track. The royals have basically treated the Commonwealth as an afterthought and props, and municipalities don’t want to pay for something they don’t see the benefit of. Feel for the athletes but the whole thing is framed to benefit the royals, just three individuals. They don’t even seem interested in promoting it. Someone will eventually host it and it will limp along. Side note, there was some world triathlon international championships in England yesterday and 57 swimmers got diarrhea and other GI problems after swimming in the waters due to sewage contamination. A whole mess.
Good lord.
I can see the Commonwealth Games ending. I think at one time it was a good venue for athletes from some of the poorer and smaller countries to get experience at an international event, and if I’m not mistaken, it was an Olympics qualifier. It seems that its usefulness has passed, and with the financial times being what they are, a good time to evaluate whether or not it should continue.
I agree, they can decide to make the 2026 games the final game. The commonwealth itself can be disbanded, similar to how the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was disbanded. Or the countries that chose can stay in the Commonwealth and separate the organization from the monarchy.
Change is good. If something no longer serve it’s fine to get rid of it.
It’s hard to disagree with the sentiments expressed above. Just shameful that the Royal Family, probably following Prince Philip’s retirement 2017, hardly bothered with these Games.
If too lazy (or stupid) to maintain the prestige of the UK Crown, have they no regard either for the competing athletes?
Meanwhile, the Commonwealth Youth Games 2023 are presently being held in my country (Trinidad & Tobago) and the arenas are practically empty. A guy posted that he tried taking photos to post on social media so he could drum up support/attendance only to be barred from taking any pics. What a waste.
Elom’s Sink, if he can’t take photos, why are the organizers doing it? That’s really sad for the athletes.
If Kaiser hasn’t posted this I wouldn’t even know the CW games ever existed.
Sydney lost money on the Olympics and were still paying it off years later. But they were so popular locally and great PR internationally that TPTB don’t make that public knowledge. And they don’t get *that* many international tourists. Certainly not regular people. It’s mostly ex-athletes, families of competitors, media and international jet-settlers (ie Christian and Mary).
Ditto goes for The Commonwealth Games. I like that it gives people from smaller, poorer nations, particularly in the Pacific, a chance to shine that they wouldn’t have in the bigger sporting platforms. But in this day and age – even in the past – it’s more appropriate that if they are to continue in any form they remain in Britain.
I loved the Commonwealth Games of the pass, being originally from a small country with less than a million people meant, one can see the few athlete(s) at the beginning of the Olympics and forget the Pan-American Games.
I enjoyed the games from British Columbia, the camaraderie and fun….The medals are medals and one actually get to see the athletes from the old country compete..
Something shifted by the time it got to London….The headlines filled with the dysfunction(s) from varying parts put a damper on things..
Now Alberta, another story altogether….
Somewhere there has been a schism between reality and usual present day conversation……
At the heart of this organization, there is no longer an empire….
The same is true of the Pan-American Games….
While delusions of being head/leader of said ’empire’ remains firmly in place…