The Government of Barbados has announced plans to remove Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state.
The process of Queen Elizabeth’s removal would be complete on November 21 when the nation marks the 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.
The decision was taken last year when a government statement said, “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.”
Prime minister Mia Mottley said Barbadians wanted a Barbadian head of state.
“This is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving,” he said in a speech.
The statement was part of the Throne Speech, which outlines the government’s policies and programmes ahead of the new session of parliament.
While it is read out by the governor-general, it is written by the country’s prime minister.
The speech also quoted a warning from Errol Barrow, Barbados’s first prime minister after it gained independence, who said that the country should not “loiter on colonial premises”.
Reacting to the announcement, Buckingham Palace said that it was a matter for the government and people of Barbados.
Quoting a palace source BBC reported that the idea “was not out of the blue” and “has been mooted and publicly talked about many times.”