Barbados to become a republic, replacing Queen Elizabeth with Governor General Sandra Mason
Barbados is currently in the process of
cutting ties with the British Monarchy and thus is set to become the world`s
newest republic.
Barbados will replace its head of state Queen
Elizabeth ll with her current representative Governor-General Sandra mason. The
official swearing-in ceremony will take place on Monday evening into Tuesday.
It will include military parades and several celebrations as Masom will be inaugurated
as President. Prince Charles will also be in attendance.
These new changes
have fueled debate among the population of 285,000 over Britain's influence of
Barbados for centuries including the more than 200 years of slavery which
ended in 1834 and Barbados becoming independent in 1966.
In October, Barbados elected mason to become
its first president one year after prime minister Mia Mottley declared that the
country would fully leave its colonial past.
“As a young girl, when I heard about the
queen, I would be excited,” said Sharon Bellamy-Thompson, 50, a fish
vendor in the capital Bridgetown who remembers being about eight and seeing the
monarch on a visit.
“As
I grow older and older, I started to wonder what this queen means for me and my
nation. It didn’t make any sense,” she said. “Having a female Barbadian
president will be great.”
