Barbados plans to remove Queen as head of state and become republic

16 September 2020, 06:09

The Prince of Wales during a walkabout with the Prime Minister of Barbados Ms Mia Mottley last year
The Prince of Wales during a walkabout with the Prime Minister of Barbados Ms Mia Mottley last year. Picture: PA

By Asher McShane

Barbados wants to become a republic by November next year and remove the Queen as its head of state.

A speech written by Prime Minister Mia Mottley quoted the Caribbean island nation's first premier Errol Barrow's warning against "loitering on colonial premises".

Reading the speech, Governor-General Dame Sandra Mason said: "The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind. Barbadians want a Barbadian Head of State.

"This is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving.

"Hence, Barbados will take the next logical step toward full sovereignty and become a Republic by the time we celebrate our 55th Anniversary of Independence."

The country gained its independence from Britain in 1966, though the Queen remains its constitutional monarch.

In 1998, a Barbados constitutional review commission recommended republican status, and in 2015 Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said "we have to move from a monarchical system to a republican form of government in the very near future".

Most Caribbean countries have kept formal links with the monarchy after achieving independence.

Barbados would join Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica and Guyana if it proceeds with its plan to become a republic. Jamaica has also flagged such a transition, with Prime Minister Andrew Holness saying it is a priority of his government, but has yet to achieve it.

Barbados took another step towards independence from the UK in 2003 when it replaced the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council with the Caribbean Court of Justice, located in Trinidad and Tobago's
Port of Spain, as its final appeals court.

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Smoke rises following an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel

Strikes on Gaza’s southern edge sow fear in one of last areas people can flee to

Illia Kyva

Ukrainian 'traitor' ex-MP assassinated in Russia after he called for Putin to use weapons of mass destruction

Russian President Vladimir Putin

Russian legislators set March date for presidential election

Chinese President Xi Jinping, centre, stands for a group photograph with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, right, and European Council president Charles Michel prior to their meeting

Divides on trade and Ukraine in focus as EU and China’s leaders meet in Beijing

APTOPIX Campus Shooting Las Vegas

Gunman dead after killing three in attack at Las Vegas university

Florida governor Ron DeSantis, third from left, speaks as former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, left, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, right, watch during a Repub

Republican debate candidates asked about Trump but Haley faces most attacks

A US military CV-22 Osprey takes off from Iwakuni base, Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan, in 2018

US military grounds entire fleet of Osprey aircraft following deadly crash

Biden

US Senate blocks international aid to push for stronger domestic border policy

YE Top Photos Mideast 2023

UN chief uses rare power to warn of impending humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

APTOPIX Campus Shooting Las Vegas

Three people killed and gunman dead in university attack in Las Vegas

Mexico Bullfighting

Mexico’s Supreme Court lifts 2022 ban on bullfighting

Campus Shooting Las Vegas

Gunman dead and at least three injured in shooting at university in Las Vegas

France Attack

Man accused of Paris attacks handed terror-linked charges

Obit Juanita Castro

Juanita Castro, anti-communist sister of Fidel and Raul, dies aged 90

Law enforcement officers head into the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, campus after reports of an active shooter

At least three killed after Las Vegas university campus shooting as police say suspect dead

Disgraced ex-Spanish FA boss Luis Rubiales

Former Spanish FA chairman Luis Rubiales accused of 'inappropriately touching' England players