And since the queen’s death, the prime minister of nearby Antigua and Barbuda, an island country of nearly 100,000 people, announced plans to hold a referendum on keeping King Charles III as head of state. Last November, Barbados renounced the crown and became a republic, prompting similar conversations in other countries in the region. While the prime minister of New Zealand has ruled out the possibility of a divorce from the crown in the foreseeable future, in the Caribbean, it is a different story.
The Commonwealth realms include several Caribbean nations where republicanism is gaining momentum, as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and a few island nations in the Pacific. “Now that she is gone, there is much less of a sentimental attachment to the institution of the monarchy, and then even less so to the person of Charles III.” But as long as the Queen was alive, there was that sentimental attachment to her person – not to the institution, but to the queen herself,” said Brooke Newman, an associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University. “There was already stirrings of republicanism in a number of these different countries. These are numerous but include Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Cook Islands, Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and Turks and Caicos, to name a few.The death of Queen Elizabeth II will accelerate the push by former UK colonies to ditch the British crown, experts and advocates have said, amid heightened anti-colonial sentiments in the remaining Commonwealth realms.ĭespite the collapse of the British Empire in the last century, 14 countries have kept the monarch as their head of state after gaining independence.īut with King Charles III ascending to the throne after the death of his mother last week, several nations are expected to break ties with Buckingham Palace in the years to come – and move towards a full republican system that does not recognise the monarch.
There are also a host of overseas territories linked to the UK, Australia and New Zealand that are not in the Commonwealth but still have the Queen as head of state. These are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, Solomon Islands, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. These include Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as several island nations in the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. The Queen is head of state of 16 countries that are a part of the Commonwealth realm, including the UK.
Today the Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent countries, made up of 2.4 billion people, who work together to promote shared interests. Following his death, the Commonwealth leaders recognised Queen Elizabeth II in that capacity.
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