The former British colony is about to become a republic, and we Barbadians can cast off our label of Little England

On 20 October, in a joint sitting of parliament, Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, described the removal of Queen Elizabeth as the head of state and the decision to become a republic as a “seminal moment” in our country’s history. We have reached the day that this becomes a reality, as Barbados embarks on its new path, cutting the umbilical cord that bound it to its former colonial master, the United Kingdom.

It begins on Monday evening, when Dame Sandra Mason will be installed as the first president of Barbados. That event, at which public participation will be extremely limited due to Covid protocols, but which will be beamed across the internet, will have the Prince of Wales in attendance as representative of the Queen.

Suleiman Bulbulia was a member of the republican status transition advisory committee in Barbados and is a columnist for Barbados Today

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Source: The Guardian