King Charles III as head of state in St Vincent and the Grenadines 'absurd'

[Eugene]

Source: BBC

King Charles III as head of state in St Vincent and the Grenadines 'absurd'

8 May 2023

By Mohamed Madi & Celestina Olulode
BBC News

The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines has said having a British monarch as head of state is "an absurdity" he would like to end in his lifetime.

Ralph Gonsalves said he would welcome an apology from the British state and monarchy on past injustices relating to slavery.

He said he believes King Charles III is open to talking about reparations.

King Charles is head of state in eight Caribbean countries.

Within the past year, political leaders in the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda have all indicated their plans to review their positions as constitutional monarchies.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-65527160

[Hestia]

1. As an aside, has anyone noticed that a lot of the countries that broke from the UK/Monarchy

then turned into authoritarian states? I would definitely question and do a lot of homework on who it is that is really wanting/demanding to break away.

Would the same internships and scholarships are available to people to study/work in the UK that would never be available to them from the country itself.

Just wondering...

[Eugene]

2. The Commonwealth realms are sovereign countries that kept the monarch as cermonial head of state.

Barbados, which just became a republic, and the 15 remaining realms are long-established democracies. The process of indepence has been going on since the 1960s in these countries. In the Carribean states, democracy is sustained through mutual support much more than British influence.

Even realms like Australia and New Zealand are looking to the exits.

Replacing Charles III and a governor general with an elected president is not 1776. The republics remain in the Commonwealth family, just a little more independent.

Final note, British rule is not blameless in the mess in some the former colonies, as 20th century decolonization featured more Cold War realpolitik than democratic idealism.