The Queen is no longer the head of state on Barbados, almost 400 years ago, when she was named for King James I, her ancestor.
It is more than 50 decades since it was fully independent in 1966.
In Barbados, Prince Philip and Her Majesty were met by enthusiastic crowds when they arrived in Bridgetown to begin a five-week Caribbean tour.
However, the monarch was removed from power by Barbadians despite her popularity.
Prince Charles arrived in Barbados last night ahead of an historic ceremony that will take his mother’s symbolic power away before the current Governor-General, Dame Sandra Mason, is insealed tomorrow as the nation’s first President.
This ceremony follows the last-year decision by Ms Mason that it was time to completely leave behind our colonial past.

Nearly 400 years later, Barbados was claimed by the English Ship King James I. Today the Queen has stepped down as the Head of State of Barbados. Above: In Barbados, the Queen during her 5-week Caribbean trip in 1966.


More than 50 years ago, the nation became a sovereign nation. As they arrived in Bridgetown (Babados’ capital), for a five-week Caribbean tour, Her Majesty the Queen and Prince Philip were met by enthusiastic crowds. Right: Queen Elizabeth II in Barbados on her Silver Jubilee tour 1977
However, in recent years Barbados has embraced a reported $490million in funding from China for new developments – although any suggestions that this relationship may create its own problems have been dismissed by the country’s prime minister, Mia Amor Mottley.
Barbados’s move to remove the Queen as its head of state comes nearly 30 years after the last nation to do so – the island of Mauritius – in 1992.
When English sailors settled on Barbados in 1627, it became Britain’s second colony – after Virginia had been founded in North America.
Since that time, nearly half of the surface and people in the world has been covered by the British Empire.
Barbados’s own parliament – which was modelled on that of its colonial master back in England – was established in 1639, making it the third oldest in the entire Commonwealth.
In the decades that followed, hundreds of West African slaves were sent to the island for work in sugar plantations.

Prince Charles arrived in Barbados last night ahead of an historic ceremony that will take his mother’s symbolic power away before the current Governor-General, Dame Sandra Mason, is insealed tomorrow as the nation’s first President

Queen Elizabeth ll greets the Barbados public at a walkabout on November 1, 1977.
Between 1627 and 1807, 387,000 Africans were forced to go to the island. The country’s population shifted from a predominantly white group of settlers to one that was dominated by blacks.
Slavery was abolished by the British Government on August 28, 1833. Slaves in the British Empire including Barbados were granted freedom.
When the island became independent in 1966 – after the island was granted internal autonomy in 1961 – the Queen continued as head of state, this time at the helm of the separate monarchy of Barbados.
In 1977 Her Majesty’s first return to Barbados was after she had visited that country. She then embarked on Concorde on her first journey back home.
These visits didn’t stop the wish of many Barbadians, including politicians, to end formal ties with England.
Although the idea was initially considered in 1970s, it was rejected by enough support from the public.
In 1998, the next significant milestone was reached when a Barbados Constitution Review Commission recommended republican status.
In 2003, the country decided to replace the London-based Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, with the Caribbean Court of Justice. This court is situated in Trinidad and Tobago’s Port of Spain.
2005 saw the passage of legislation that would allow for the referendum on republican shift, but it never happened.
Premier Minister Freundel Stuart stated in 2015 that “we must move from a monarchical system to republican forms of government within the very near future”.
Over the past two decades, republicanism has grown in popularity due to the Black Lives Matter protest movement and renewed interest in the horrific history of slave trading as well as Britain’s terrible handling of the Windrush scandal.
This month, however, the shift from Britain’s monarchy was pushed through PM Ms Mottley. It has also been approved by parliament where Labour controls 29 of the 30 seats.
Some politicians oppose the idea. Verla De Peiza (50), the leader of the Democratic Labour Party in the country, said to Robert Hardman of the Daily Mail: “A referendum would be great, or at least some form of proper consultation.
We were promised an electoral council to debate a new constitution. Nothing of this sort has been found.
Ronnie Yearwood 42, who is a University of the West Indies law lecturer, stated that there was not enough support for the idea.

Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II, both from England, are being entertained at Villa Nova in Barbados by the Earl and Comtess of Avon on February 15, 1966

On February 24, 1975, the masses in Bridgetown, Barbados welcomed Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
“But, if you criticize this process or request a referendum, you will be accused of being antirepublican.
The government said that it would “look at Brexit” as though it were a terrible thing when people had their say. Although it could have been an amazing moment, this feeling is very hollow.
Since the decision by Mauritius to become a republic, three other nations have held votes on the subject – Australia in 1999, the Pacific state of Tuvalu in 2008 and Barbados’s Caribbean neighbour St Vincent & the Grenadines in 2009.
The people chose to retain the Queen head of state on each occasion, regardless of political pressure.
Ms Mottley’s decision to declare Barbados republic will not affect its status as a major part of the Commonwealth that is led by the Queen.