Danny Sriskandarajah of the Royal Commonwealth Society describes the experience as a story of evolving disappointments.
The funding launch was held at the refurbished Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh, built for the 1970 Commonwealth Games.
About 300 people took part in the New Year's Day triathlon in Edinburgh, where competitors must swim 400m at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, cycle 11 miles around Arthur's Seat and then run 3.5 miles.
Events will also take place on New Year's Day, including sled dog races at Holyrood Park and a triathlon which will see competitors swim 400 metres of the Royal Commonwealth Pool, cycle 11 miles around Arthur's Seat and then run 3.5 miles.
To concentrate minds, leaders arriving in the Caribbean will be presented with two reports, both of which are remarkably blunt, considering that one was funded in part by the Commonwealth's small Secretariat, and the other came from the Royal Commonwealth Society, the largest of the NGOs that promote the club.
The Royal Mail worked with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Universal Postal Union in Switzerland to provide the postcode.
Despite this liberation the queen remains a passive figure, sought out only if there is a crisis in the Commonwealth, a row over royal finances or a controversial state occasion such as the visit of the much-reviled Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1971.
Tim UnwinTim Unwin is Emeritus Professor of Geography at Royal Holloway, University of London and Secretary General of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation.
It will be available on the Royal Channel on the YouTube website and will also be shown in Commonwealth countries.
Also next year, the couple will join other senior members of the Royal Family in undertaking tours to the Queen's realms and Commonwealth nations to mark the Diamond Jubilee.
This will enable the Royal Mint to produce giant coins to commemorate the Olympics and other events, such as the Commonwealth Games, subject to permission from the Queen.
The royal wedding, as a semi-state occasion, does not include world leaders outside the Commonwealth -- so Presidents Obama and Sarkozy will have to find alternative diversions for April 29.
CNN: Who's going to the royal wedding? Check out the guest list!
It has been an eventful year for the royal family, with the Queen celebrating her Diamond Jubilee in June, marked with celebrations in the UK and Commonwealth.
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