Barbados: Queen soon no longer head of state

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Outgoing Barbados Head of State Queen Elizabeth II and future Governor General Sandra Mason

Photo: JACOB KING;

JOHN STILLWELL / AFP

The Caribbean island state of Barbados breaks away from the British royal family and gets a new head of state. At celebrations on Monday evening and Tuesday, the previous representative of Queen Elizabeth II, Governor General Sandra Mason, will be introduced as the new head of state. The British heir to the throne, Prince Charles, takes part in the ceremony and arrived in Barbados on Sunday. The former crown colony of Barbados gained independence from Great Britain in 1966, but the Queen formally remained the head of state.

British colonialists abducted enslaved people from Africa to Barbados between around 1627 and 1807 to cultivate the island's sugar cane fields. Barbados became the focal point of the barbaric transatlantic slave trade. Today's population of less than 300,000 people is predominantly of African descent. For them, the move means a detachment from the colonial legacy. Barbados, however, will remain a republic within the Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 countries in Africa, Asia, America and Europe.

The Barbados celebrations come at a time when the island nation is struggling with inflation as supply chain disruptions drive prices up in a country that has to import the most goods. The tourism industry, an important part of the economy, is still recovering from previous travel restrictions caused by the corona pandemic.

But Barbados isn't Britain's only renegade ex-colony.

The 95-year-old Queen has already had to let numerous states go during her tenure.

The Queen was last deposed as head of state in 1992 when Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, declared itself an independent republic.

In future she will be the official head of state of 15 countries, including Canada and Australia.

According to observers, after the death of the popular monarch, other countries could turn away from the British crown.

jso / AFP / Reuters