Balfour Declaration of 1926

The Balfour Declaration of 1926 was issued by the 1926 Imperial Conference of British Empire leaders in London.

[1] It declared the United Kingdom and the Dominions to be: ... autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

[2]The Inter-Imperial Relations Committee, chaired by Balfour, drew up the document preparatory to its unanimous approval by the imperial prime ministers on 15 November 1926.

The declaration accepted the growing political and diplomatic independence of the Dominions in the years after World War I.

In following years, high commissioners were gradually appointed, whose duties were soon recognised to be virtually identical to those of an ambassador.