With Agency Report — Barbados has officially replaced the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state to become the world’s newest Republic.
This comes nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived the golden shores of Caribbean island.
The new republic was born to the cheers of hundreds of people lining Chamberlain Bridge in the capital, Bridgetown, at the stroke of midnight. A 21-gun salute fired as the national anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, stood somberly as the royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados declared, a step republicans hope will spur discussion of similar proposals in other former British colonies where Queen Elizabeth II remains their sovereign.
The event featured dazzling display of Barbadian dance and music, complete with speeches celebrating the end of colonialism. Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados’s first president in the shadow of Barbados’s parliament.
Mason was elected last month by a joint session of the country’s House of Assembly and Senate.
“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 mean, put a Bajan there instead.”
Supporters of the transition say removing the British queen as Barbados’s head of state sends a powerful message.
“Tonight’s the night!” read the front-page headline of Barbados’ Daily Nation newspaper.
The move to republicanism – which local leaders described as the “next logical step toward full sovereignty” – was announced last year during the annual Throne Speech.
“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.”
In Bridgetown, Barbadians have been preparing celebrations for their new republic, with Prince Charles expected to deliver a speech stressing that warm relations between the island and the UK would continue despite the constitutional change.
“I am happy. We are on our own now with no king or queen from England,” Nigel Mayers, 60, who sells oranges in the city centre, told newsmen. “This is the full drop after independence.”
Barbados will remain a republic within the Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 countries across Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe.
But its withdrawal from the monarchy will bring the number of Commonwealth realms countries that continue to have the queen as their head of state to 15, including Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.
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