Jeremy Corbyn says Prince Charles should not automatically replace the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth

PRINCE Charles shouldn’t replace the Queen as the head of the Commonwealth, Jeremy Corbyn has said.

In his latest snub to the Royal Family, the pro-Republican Labour leader said the 53 members of the Commonwealth should decide who the next President is.

And the role should then change on a rotational basis, Mr Corbyn said - ahead of this week’s high profile Commonwealth heads of Government meeting in London.

He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: “I think the Commonwealth ought to really get a chance to decide who its own head is in the future.

“The Queen clearly is personally very committed to the Commonwealth but after her I think maybe it’s a time to say well actually the Commonwealth should decide who its own president is on a rotational basis.”

And Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Scotland said she has “no idea” who will replace the Queen.

She told the same programme: “Fifty-three heads of government are the heads and they will make a decision in whatever way they determine.”

She dodged questions over her personal preference. And Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson echoed her - saying it was “a matter for the 53”.

He also dismissed suggestions from Mr Corbyn that the Government should apologise for wrongs carried out by the British state to other Commonwealth countries.

The Labour leader said Britain should recognise its “historical role in many of these issues”, including the treatment of people in Kenya during the Mau Mau Uprising.

He said: “There’s been a sort of apology given on that.

“On the Chagos Islands, it’s an issue I’ve been very closely involved with for a very long time, that is going to come up at CHOGM, no question about that, and I think it’s important the British Government just recognises what Britain did with the Chagos islanders was immoral, was wrong and brutal.

“Put it right and give them their right of return.”

Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for a major United States military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.

This agreement with the US secured a discount on the Polaris nuclear weapons system for the UK.

The expulsions are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history.

But Mr Johnson, also appearing on the Andrew Marr show, said: “That hasn’t been suggested to me by any Commonwealth leader, foreign minister or sherpa of the summit that I’ve met so far.”

Mr Johnson added: “It’s not a proposal that, as I understand, carries much support amongst the 53.”