Barbados, the republic of women

ThereBarbados’ only Caribbean deposed its queen and proclaimed a republic. It wouldn’t be great news: these are things that happen on small islands. But what makes this event special is the fact that the ruler of Barbados was Queen Elizabeth II, and that her son Charles was also celebrating the deposition of his mother. Moreover, the island will now become the kingdom of women: Dame Sandra Mason, former governor on behalf of the Queen, will be the president; Mia Mottley is the head of the government and Donna Babb-Agard is at the top of the prosecutor’s office. Other women have and will have senior positions in administration.

Prince Charles congratulated everyone and kept up the small hours like the Barbadians last night. The celebrations and speeches began late, and the proclamation took place at midnight, on the anniversary of 55 years of independence from London, declared in 1966. Like many other Commonwealth states, Barbados, however, had retained, gaining autonomy, the queen Elizabeth as head of state.

But today “the time has come to put the colonial past behind us,” said President Sandra Mason, a former magistrate, an expert in family law. Charles was greeted on arrival with the red carpet and with every honor, including the 21 cannon shots reserved for royalty. His mother has often visited every state that is part of the Commonwealth, but he always has to go to the ones that decide the divorce: he was present at the passage of Hong Kong to China in 1997, and at the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.

Carlo couldn’t say no, because he had been officially invited by the government. Barbados does not want to break off relations with Great Britain, it just wants to free itself from all memories of the colonial yoke, which began in 1625, at the time of James I. The “Black lives matter” movement has fueled a fire that was smoldering under the ashes, but a the decisive push was given by the Chinese, who are investing tens of billions in the Caribbean. Barbados has only received $ 480 million in encouragement so far, but Trinidad and Antigua have already had a billion and Jamaica has taken 2.7.

Funding from Beijing is more attractive than what the British crown can offer, and Carlo could not help but smile under his mask, pretending to be happy and sure that relations with London will not change. There were fears of protests, fueled by statements by the leader of the integration movement, Kristina Hinds, according to which “the royal family has never apologized for the exploitation of these islands and other countries”.

The statue of Horatio Nelson, the admiral who before Trafalgar crossed in these parts frowned upon by the local population, was first turned away so that he would no longer look towards Bridgetown, then it was pulled down to forget about it. Though he has now deposed the Queen as well, Barbados will still remain in the Commonwealth, because business is always business. Elizabeth is still the head of state of 15 countries, the most important of which, in addition to the United Kingdom, are Australia and Canada. But other Caribbean islands, such as Jamaica, are likely to soon follow Barbados’ lead and prefer the new Chinese colonialists to Queen Victoria’s heirs. When Elizabeth passes the throne to her son, Canada and Australia will probably leave as well, but Charles will at least have the advantage of being able to send William to the funeral without having to go there himself.

The short visit to Barbados nevertheless helped the prince to breathe a little breath from the siege to which he has been subjected for some time. Despite threats of lawsuits, the BBC has aired the documentary on the quarrels between the Windsors, and an American author, Christopher Andersen, has published a book in which he claims that it was Carlo, the day of the announcement of the engagement of Harry and Meghan, asking Camilla what complexion their children would be. Clarence House, the prince’s residence, replied that “these are fictional and insinuations not worthy of comment.” He could have simply said it wasn’t true, but he didn’t.