King Charles III has only been a monarch for one week, but he is already facing the prospect that the territories under his reign will grow smaller. Specifically, Antigua and Barbuda has announced that it will undergo a vote that could result in Charles being removed as the symbolic head of state of the Caribbean nation.
A former British colony with remaining ties to the UK
Antigua and Barbuda, a small nation of about 100,000 people, was reportedly discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493 and colonized by the British in the 1600s. The country finally became independent in 1981 but remained part of the Commonwealth of Nations along with dozens of other former British colonies. Within the Commonwealth, more than a dozen countries — including Antigua and Barbuda — maintain the British monarch as a ceremonial head of state.
Breaking ties with the monarchy
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne recently told British television that the country will hold a referendum on its political status. If passed, the proposed change would see the country become a republic, which would remove the British monarch from being head of state. Browne announced the plan at an ascension ceremony that formally recognized King Charles III as head of state.
Despite the proposal to sever ties with King Charles III and the British crown, Browne insisted that the move “does not represent any form of disrespect to the monarch.” Rather, the prime minister said, “it is a final step to complete the circle of independence to become a truly sovereign nation.”
Trend of Caribbean countries drawing away from Britain
Antigua and Barbuda joins a growing list of countries distancing themselves from their former colonial power, Britain. In 2021, Barbados declared itself a republic and removed Queen Elizabeth II as that country’s head of state. The country’s governor-general, Sandra Mason, became president and thus took over as head of state.
“The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind,” Mason said ahead of the transition. Since then, several other Caribbean nations, including Jamaica, have signaled intentions to remove the British monarch as head of state, many of them citing the need to fully break with colonialism.
The monarchy's possible future
This latest move by Antigua and Barbuda also coincides with larger reevaluations of Britain’s colonial past and the monarchy’s future. These debates have been highlighted in recent years by mixed receptions to the royal family, such as happened during Prince William and Kate Middleton‘s Caribbean tour earlier this year. Queen Elizabeth II’s death has exacerbated these critiques, with many formerly colonized peoples celebrating her passing, marking an end of a colonial era in their eyes.
Now, King Charles III has inherited the throne at a time when many of the nations he formally rules are poised to pull away. While he will remain King of the United Kingdom, his time as head of state will likely be short for Antigua and Barbuda, and it will not be surprising if other countries soon cut their ties with the new king as well.
