There were moments when the queen was called on to take a more than ceremonial role. In January 1953, a seven-member delegation of chiefs and nationalist activists from Nyasaland, as Malawi was then known, travelled to Britain to present a petition to the queen opposing the formation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The proposed federation would have devolved sovereignty to a white-minority government, with token representation and constitutional protections for African interests.
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