Barbados says it will remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state next year and become a republic.

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Barbados, an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of North America, has signalled its plan to remove Britain’s Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic.
This was disclosed by the nation’s government. The Caribbean nation’s Governor-General, Sandra Mason, said in a speech on Tuesday that “the time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind.”
She said the country will become a republic as early as November of next year when it celebrates its 55th anniversary of independence from the British empire.
The country after gaining independence in 1966 from Britain has maintained a formal link with the British monarchy as part of some other countries that were once part of the British empire.
But many Barbadians have long agitated to remove her status — and with it, the lingering symbolic presence of imperialism over its governance — and multiple leaders this century have proposed that the country become a republic.
While delivering a speech on behalf of the country’s prime minister, Mia Mottley, Barbados Governor General Sandra Mason stated that time has come for the country to fully leave behind their colonial past and forge ahead as a republic.
“Barbadians want a Barbadian Head of State. This is the ultimate statement of confidence in who we are and what we are capable of achieving. Hence, Barbados will take the next logical step toward full sovereignty and become a Republic by the time we celebrate our 55th Anniversary of Independence.”
That anniversary will come in November of next year.