Elisabeth II, April 5, 2020. -
AP / Sipa
"The time has come to say a real farewell to our colonial past": Sandra Mason, Governor General of Barbados, announced that this Caribbean microstate will free itself from subjugation to the British Crown.
"Having obtained its independence more than half a century ago, our country can have no doubts about its capacities to manage itself", affirmed the one who is the official representative of the Queen of England in a speech of return of the local parliament delivered on Tuesday in the capital, Bridgetown.
Barbados will thus become a republic by the end of November 2021.
A republic on November 30, 2021
Elisabeth II will therefore lose her sovereignty over one of the last kingdoms of the Commonwealth, which are former British colonies that have become independent.
Asked in London on the subject, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said that the decision fell "to the authorities and the people of Barbados".
The separation with the British Crown will mark "the supreme affirmation of the confidence in who we are and in what we are capable of", assured Sandra Mason.
"Barbados will take the next logical step towards full sovereignty and become a republic by the day we celebrate the 55th anniversary of our independence, November 30, 2021," she detailed.
Rihanna as ambassador
Barbados, tourist pearl of the Lesser Antilles, is particularly popular with Anglo-Saxon high society.
Covering only 430 km2, it had 287,000 inhabitants in 2019 according to the World Bank.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the island of paradise beaches was visited each year by more than a million tourists.
The easternmost island of the Caribbean, 300 km from Venezuela, Barbados is the birthplace of world superstar Rihanna.
The singer has also been officially appointed ambassador of the island state, responsible for promoting tourism, education and investment.
Still the sovereign of several countries
A number of countries have since their independence chosen to withdraw the position of Head of State from the Queen of England, the latest being Mauritius, which in 1992 became a republic.
In other countries like Australia, the issue was put to referendum and rejected.
In the end, Elisabeth II remains the sovereign, in addition to the United Kingdom, of 15 nations including the Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica and New Zealand.
People
Meghan and Harry refunded € 2.6m to UK taxpayer
People
The whole royal family celebrates Prince Harry's 36th birthday
Commonwealth
Queen elizabeth ii
United Kingdom
World