Royal Commonwealth Society

Fire ignited by the blast and the large quantity of water pumped in to extinguish it meant some unique collections were destroyed; examples, painstakingly assembled over more than seventy years, included: the Library of Overseas Law, the contents of the Newspaper Room, and sections covering the general British Empire, foreign colonies, the First World War, Malta and Gibraltar.

The subsequent issue of the Society's journal United Empire, May–June 1941, reported the resumption of activities including its Saturday afternoon dances for members of the Overseas Armed Forces.

Determined attempts were made to replace the Library's losses, drawing helpful donations from institutions and individuals, and an award from the War Damage Commission, but many items proved irreplaceable.

[9] Full restoration of the Society's Northumberland Avenue headquarters was completed in 1957; the building was officially re-opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and a grand festival organised to celebrate the event.

[6] The Library of the Society, despite the damage caused by the German bombing offensive during World War II, grew to over half a million items.

[12] The Contemporary Review described the collection as "the most comprehensive single source for the history of the world's greatest empire from its 16th century beginnings to its present fifty-nation Commonwealth".

[14] From the late 1960s, however, increasing financial problems, combined with severe flood damage, led to the conclusion that it was no longer viable for the Society to maintain its Library.

[6] Cambridge Library's intervention enabled the Society to clear its debts and, in 1994, to redevelop the grand clubhouse at 18–21 Northumberland Avenue (now Citadines Trafalgar Square) to the design of architect Linda Morey Smith.

The Society found it necessary in 2013 to sell its headquarters at 25 Northumberland Avenue, and it moved in 2014 to a new London office on Pall Mall, with a view to focusing on its charitable work.

[16] Through its educational, youth and outreach programmes, the Society aims to encourage young people to develop skills and, with an increased understanding of their role as global citizens, to engage with challenges facing the international community.

It aims to bring alive the principles of the modern Commonwealth – tolerance, diversity, freedom, justice, democracy, human rights, and sustainable development – to a generation living in an increasingly interconnected world.