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The republicans

International

Britain is far from the only nation afflicted by monarchy. But it is the British monarchy that has spread itself the most widely, following the British empire and often staying behind when colonies freed themselves. Sixteen former colonies that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations still have Britain's feudal head of state as their own.


 
The Prince and the Colonials

Public Record Office records unsealed in 2003 show that in the 1960s the husband of Britain's hereditary head of state, known as Prince Philip, wrote to Prime Minister Harold Wilson to urge that he resist demands for independence from Britain's Caribbean colonies. Mr. Windsor claimed that the peoples of those islands "saw their relationship with Britain to be much the same as the relationship between the Scilly or Channel Isles and Britain."
 

The other monarchies are Andorra, Bahrain, Belgium, Bhutan, Denmark, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Morocco, Nepal, the Netherlands, Norway, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, and Thailand.

Pointer List of Commonwealth nations, showing republic/monarchy status, other monarchies, with republican information links and human rights records.

Pointer International Anti-Monarchy Web Directory (External link)

International Reports

Pointer Canada

Pointer Australia

Pointer USA

Jamaica

In October 2002 Jamaica's Prime Minister P. J. Patterson and the members of his cabinet swore for the first time to be faithful the constitution of Jamaica and to be loyal in the discharge of their duties to the people of Jamaica. Until the House of Representatives changed the law earlier in 2002, Jamaican legislators had sworn allegiance to the British Windsor family.
 

New Zealand

In February 2002 New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clarke chose to attend a conference in Sweden rather than greet Britain’s hereditary head of state when she arrived to celebrate 50 years of her feudal rule. Ms. Clarke said that she expected New Zealand to become a republic in the near future.

Pointer The New Zealand Republican Movement
 


Barbados

The Caribbean island of Barbados is set to become a republic before 2008. The Barbados Labour Party promised that if re-elected in 2003 it would legislate to end the country’s link with the British monarchy within five years.

The plan to discard the British "queen" as head of state follows the recommendations of a constitutional commission that said that the new non-executive head of state should be a Barbadian citizen chosen by an electoral college to serve a term of seven years.

For 330 years until 1966 Barbados was a British colony. The report was made after two years of consultation by the commission with Barbadians in Britain and North America as well as at home. The head of the commission said that the recommendation showed "a sense of maturity on the part of Barbados that it can function at the highest level."

Before joining the other Caribbean republics Barbados has to decide with what to replace the British privy council as its highest court of appeal. Many are concerned about the independence of their own supreme court.
 


 

Tuvalu

Commonwealth member Tuvalu started in 2002 on the road to becoming a republic. Saufatu Sopoaga, Prime Minister of the South Pacific Polynesian nation, announced that consultation would begin in September, with a referendum scheduled for the end of the year. The Prime Minister said that Tuvalu would stay in the Commonwealth if a republican constitution was agreed.
Pointer Read more
 

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