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PHOTOGRAPH BY JOE RAEDLE, GETTY IMAGES
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By Nancy San Martin, Deputy Managing Editor, History & Culture
England’s thumbprint on the island of Barbados—a former colony of the British Empire long referred to as the “Little England” of the Caribbean—is far from evident to visitors today. Few British flags flutter in the wind. There are no images of Her Royal Highness prominently displayed. And while tea is the breakfast beverage of choice for many Barbadians, the British “high tea” tradition is mostly preserved for tourists visiting 300-year-old plantation houses.
So it comes as little surprise that the island nation’s move to formally remove Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state tomorrow—on the 55th anniversary of its transition from a colony to an independent state—is met with little more than a shrug by locals when asked how they feel about bidding farewell to the queen.
Yet, the act is profound for a nation that has endured nearly 400 years of British dominance. (Pictured above, the nation’s Emancipation Statue, symbolizing the moment of freedom from slavery.)
As Jacqueline Charles writes for National Geographic, Barbados’ move is about self-identity and control over its future.
“After 396 years of British rule, and probably just over 386 years of British monarchical rule, the time has come for us to express the full confidence in ourselves as a people,” Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said last month after lawmakers voted to replace the role of the queen with the island’s governor-general, Dame Sandra Mason (pictured below), who will become Barbados’ first president.
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