Why The Queen Could Be Losing Her Head Of State Status In This Country
As the head of the British royal family, Queen Elizabeth has a variety of duties, and many people might not realize that she does more than oversee the monarchy in the United Kingdom.
In fact, she is the head of state of 14 other countries: Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Canada, Grenada, Jamaica, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu (per Forbes). Her role in these nations — known as "Commonwealth Realms" — is, for the most part, ceremonial, with a governor-general assigned to each country to perform the Queen's daily duties.
In 2020, Barbados decided to remove Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. The move came around the time that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle called on Great Britain to acknowledge the "wrongs" that have been done to its Commonwealth countries.
"When you look across the Commonwealth, there is no way that we can move forward unless we acknowledge the past," Harry said (per CNN). "So many people have done such an incredible job of acknowledging the past and trying to right those wrongs, but I think we all acknowledge there is so much more still to do."
Since Barbados made its announcement, there has been speculation that more countries would follow suit, and it seems as if one nation is close to making that move.
Jamaica might be leaving the British Commonwealth
It appears that Jamaica might be the next country to remove Queen Elizabeth as its head of state.
"It is worth noting that our sister island in the CARICOM, Barbados, has recently taken the required steps to repatriate their sovereignty by establishing a Barbadian as their head of state and first president," said Mark Golding, leader of the People's National Party, in a speech to the Jamaican Parliament (per Express). "That was a bipartisan exercise concluded in a timely manner from start to finish, through cooperation between the government and opposition in Barbados. I wish to commend them for it. We in Jamaica should follow now, right away and without delay."
Although Jamaica and Barbados have both made moves to become completely independent from the British monarchy, one expert doesn't believe that the Queen should be worried just yet.
"I think this desire to get rid of the Queen as head of state does to some extent point towards a future where the monarch will no longer have this role as head of state of various other realms and countries," said Ed Owens, an honorary research associate at the Centre for the Study of Modern Monarchy at Royal Holloway University (via Express). "I imagine [the domino effect] will take time because there is got to be a political consensus behind any movement for a republic."