Barbados has become a republic, removing the British monarchy as the country’s head of state and dissolving the Caribbean island’s last remaining colonial ties over 400 years after the first English ships arrived.
At the stroke of midnight, hundreds of people lined Chamberlain Bridge in the capital, Bridgetown, to celebrate the birth of the new republic. The national anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square, and a 21-gun salute was fired.
The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, stood solemnly as the royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados was announced, a move that republicans hope will spark consideration of similar ideas in other former British colonies where Queen Elizabeth II still reigns.
Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados’ first president in the shadow of Barbados’ parliament after a magnificent exhibition of Barbadian dance and song, complete with speeches hailing the end of colonialism.
Mason was elected by the country’s House of Assembly and Senate in a joint session last month.
“Full stop this colonial page,” Winston Farrell, a Barbadian poet told the ceremony. “Some have grown up stupid under the Union Jack, lost in the castle of their skin.”
“It is about us, rising out of the cane fields, reclaiming our history,” he said. “End all that she means, put a Bajan there instead.”
The removal of the British monarch as Barbados’ head of state, according to supporters of the transition, sends a significant statement.
“Tonight’s the night!” read the front-page headline of Barbados’ Daily Nation newspaper.
Last year, during the annual Throne Speech, local authorities declared the switch to republicanism, which they termed the “next logical step toward full sovereignty.”
“The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,” said Mason, who delivered the speech on behalf of Mottley in her then-role as governor-general. “Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state.”
Barbadians have been planning festivities for their new republic in Bridgetown, with Prince Charles slated to deliver a speech emphasizing that the island’s friendly links with the United Kingdom will continue despite the constitutional change.
“I am happy. We are on our own now with no king or queen from England,” said Nigel Mayers, 60, who sells oranges in the city centre, “This is the full drop after independence.”
Barbados will remain a Commonwealth republic, which consists of 54 countries from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe.
However, Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea will join the Commonwealth realms, bringing the total number of Commonwealth realms to 15, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea.
Mauritius, an Indian Ocean island, was the latest country to abandon the Crown in 1992.
Experts believe Barbados’ decision will feed republicanism in other Commonwealth countries, particularly in Jamaica, where the two main political parties demand total independence from the queen.
Barbados, a small island with a population of about 300,000 people, obtained independence from the United Kingdom in 1966.
Since the 1620s, when British immigrants converted it into a sugar colony reliant on the labor of thousands of enslaved Africans, the country has been under British sovereignty until 1834, when it was emancipated.
The UK has been called upon to compensate Barbados and other Caribbean islanders for their harsh histories.
However, the COVID-19 outbreak has harmed Barbados’ tourism-dependent economy, and some islanders claim that this is more concerning than the imminent constitutional change.
