Eli5; how are countries like Australia and New Zealand independent yet they still are under King Charles?
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These Commonwealth countries have been on a centuries-long path of independence from the UK. That’s a very different process from the US and other colonies who cut ties abruptly. It’s been happening gradually as more and more responsibility moves over from Britain to the former colonies.
When Australia, Canada and NZ (and also South Africa before full independence) were created as Dominions they still had a lot of ties to the motherland. For example, Canada didn’t have a fully-domestic supreme court until well into the 20th Century. Foreign affairs, militaries and other functions were still performed by Britain. A big change happened in 1931 when the Statute of Westminster devolved essentially all of the King’s powers to the governor-general.
The shared head of state is the last tiny piece of dependence to UK still in place. And that’s mostly because getting the King to appoint the governor-general keeps things simple. Any change would require constitutional amendments that nobody wants to tackle.
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