BRIDGETOWN: The Caribbean island nation of Barbados removed Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as head of state to become a new republic on Tuesday with its first-ever president and severing last remaining colonial bonds after nearly 400 years.
Barbados declared itself the world’s newest republic on Tuesday, lowering Queen Elizabeth’s flag as it severed colonial-era ties to the British throne to the sound of jubilant gun salutes in the capital Bridgetown. A 21 gun salute fired as the national anthem of Barbados was played over a crowded Heroes Square.
“Republic Barbados has set sail on her maiden voyage,” Dame Sandra Mason said in her inauguration speech as the first president of the country, recognising the “complex, fractured and turbulent world” it would need to navigate.
“We the people must give Republic Barbados its spirit and its substance,” President Sandra Mason said. “We must shape its future. We are each other’s and our nation’s keepers. We the people are Barbados.”
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, stood as Queen Elizabeth’s royal standard was lowered and the new Barbados was declared a republic.
“The creation of this republic offers a new beginning,” said Prince Charles, whose mother sent her warmest wishes. “From the darkest days of our past and the appalling atrocity of slavery which forever stains our history, people of this island forged their path with extraordinary fortitude.”
The “Pride of Nationhood” ceremony itself was closed to the wider public but Barbados’ most famous citizen, singer Rihanna, took place alongside top officials for the event.
One of the first acts of the prime minister of the new republic was to declare Rhianna a National Hero of Barbados: “May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honor to your nation,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley told the international celebrity.
Barbados, famous for its idyllic beaches and love of cricket, won independence from Britain in 1966. In October, it elected Mason its first president, one year after Mottley declared the country would “fully” leave behind its colonial past.
Barbados received 600,000 enslaved Africans between 1627 and 1833, who were put to work in the sugar plantations, earning fortunes for the English owners.
More than 10 million Africans were shackled into the Atlantic slave trade by European nations between the 15th and 19th centuries. Those who survived the often brutal voyage, ended up toiling on plantations.
The last time the queen was removed as head of state was in 1992 when the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius proclaimed itself a republic.
