{"id":31569,"date":"2021-12-16T23:01:42","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T05:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/?p=31569"},"modified":"2021-12-16T23:01:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T05:01:42","slug":"barbados-leaves-the-british-monarchy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/2021\/12\/16\/barbados-leaves-the-british-monarchy\/","title":{"rendered":"Barbados Leaves the British Monarchy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The British Monarchy, which ruled over the Caribbean island of Barbados for 396 years, <\/span>ended with a handover ceremony<\/span><\/a> at midnight on November 29, 2021. This ceremony marked the birth of the world\u2019s newest republic. <\/span><\/p>\n

As midnight hit, the Royal Standard flag representing the Queen lowered, signaling the official end to British reign. <\/span>Hundreds of guests applauded as Dame Sandra Mason was sworn in as president by the chief justice and took the oath of allegiance to her country. A 21-gun salute was fired as the national anthem was played. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRepublic Barbados has set sail on her maiden voyage,\u201d President Mason <\/span>said in her inauguration speech<\/span><\/a> as the first president of the country. She also recognized the \u201ccomplex, fractured, and turbulent world\u201d Barbados would need to navigate through. <\/span><\/p>\n

Before Barbados’ official transition, Prime Minister Mia Mottley had <\/span>announced in 2020<\/span><\/a> that Barbados would cut ties with the British Monarchy. She said that the time had come for Barbados to \u201cfully leave [their] colonial past behind.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Although some agree with Mottley, many think this moment had been long since overdue. <\/span>\u201cIt cuts into your dignity as a citizen,\u201d Sir Hilary Beckles, one of the country\u2019s most renowned historians and vice-chancellors of the University of the West Indies, said of the previous roles of the monarchy. <\/span><\/p>\n

A <\/span>survey of Barbadian attitudes<\/span><\/a> on the royal family, done by Cynthia Barrow-Giles, a professor at the University of the West Indies, showed that more than 60% of Barbadians were in favor of becoming a republic, half of them even enthusiastically.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last time colonies in the Caribbean cut ties with the monarchy <\/span>was in the 1970s<\/span><\/a> during the peak of the Black power era. <\/span>It was during another movement for racial justice, after the killing of George Floyd, that Barbados flagged its breakaway from the Queen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Although many Barbadian leaders, like Errol Barrow, the country\u2019s first prime minister, have been pushing for a move past the monarchy, the world is still largely shaped by colonialism. <\/span>It took until Independence Day in November of 2020 for Mottley\u2019s government to officially declare the transition. <\/span><\/p>\n

The declaration for the transition was shortly after she conducted a ceremony to <\/span>remove a statue of the British naval hero Horatio Nelson<\/span><\/a> from a city square because he defended the colonial slave trade. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley (left) and President of Barbados Dame Sandra Mason (right) honor Rihanna as a national here during the presidential inauguration ceremony at Heroes Square on Nov. 30, 2021, in Bridgetown, Barbados. | Picture credit: Jeff J Mitchell<\/p><\/div>\n

During the ceremony, Rihanna was <\/span>de<\/span><\/a>clared a nati<\/a>onal hero<\/a> and bestowed with the title \u201cthe right excellent.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn behalf of a grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero of Barbados, the Ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty,\u201d Mottley announced to introduce Rihanna. <\/span><\/p>\n

Rihanna gave her speech, in which she encouraged the youth to continue Barbados’s fight to push forward. <\/span>\u201cI have traveled the world and received several awards and recognitions, but nothing, nothing compares to being recognized in the soil that you grew in,\u201d Rihanna said in her speech. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first time in over 20 years that Barbados has bestowed a national hero honor. The last person to receive this title was former cricket player <\/span>Garfield St Aubrun Sobers<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

11 people<\/span><\/a> in total have been honored since 1998, including an enslaved person who had led a rebellion and the first person of African descent to serve in the island\u2019s Parliament. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II visits Barbados on Oct. 31, 1977 || Photo credit: AP<\/p><\/div>\n

The Queen sent her congratulation on the nation\u2019s \u201cmomentous\u201d day. <\/span>In <\/span>a message to Mason<\/span><\/a>, the Queen wished all Barbadians happiness, peace, and prosperity. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOn this significant occasion and your assumption of office as the first president of Barbados, I extend my congratulations to you and all Barbadians,\u201d the Queen said in her message. <\/span><\/p>\n

She continued to say that the \u201cpeople of Ba<\/span>rbados have held a special place in my heart; it is a country rightly proud of its vibrant culture, its sporting prowess, and its natural beauty, that attracts visitors from all over the world, including many people from the United Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Along with her message to the new president, Prince Charles arrived on the island on Sunday, the day before the ceremony, to join in the inauguration ceremony. <\/span><\/p>\n

While many do not approve of the Queen and think she has long since overstayed her welcome, Prince Harry is well-liked. <\/span>\u201cWhere Prince Harry is concerned, in terms of the royal family outside of the Queen, he has the greatest level of favorability,\u201d Barrow-Giles <\/span>said when discussing the royal family<\/span><\/a>. \u201cPeople like him.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Although this was a great step forward for Barbados as a whole, they still have much work to do to establish themselves as a separate entity away from the British Monarchy. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The British Monarchy, which ruled over the Caribbean island of Barbados for 396 years, ended with a handover ceremony at midnight on November 29, 2021….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":577,"featured_media":31575,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2724,1],"tags":[1061,2176],"coauthors":[3428],"class_list":["post-31569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-worldnews","tag-president","tag-republic"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/577"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31569"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31812,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31569\/revisions\/31812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31569"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.imsa.edu\/acronym\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=31569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}