During Prince William and Kate’s eight-day tour of the Caribbean, they were met with some anti-monarchy protests and the Prime Minister of Jamaica announced their plans to remove the Queen as their Head of State. Not being the first country to do so, it is interesting to note how many countries have removed Her Majesty and how many still recognise her as Head of State.
Discover our latest podcast
These countries still have the Queen as Head of State
The Queen used to be the Head of State of all the Commonwealth countries and she ruled over them in the same manner she rules over the UK.
Today, the Queen is Head of State in 15 countries in the Commonwealth:
- The UK
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Canada
- Antigua and Barbuda
- The Bahamas
- Belize
- Grenada
- Jamaica
- Papua New Guinea
- Saint Lucia
- Solomon Islands
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
The Queen is also Head of State for the overseas territories that belong to the UK which are not part of the Commonwealth:
- Gibraltar
- The Falkland Islands
- Bermuda
- The Cayman Islands
Read more:
⋙ The Queen: These commonwealth countries could replace her as Head of State
⋙ The Queen: Australia's Republican Party looking to remove the Queen as Head of State
⋙ Prince William and Kate: The Cambridge's Caribbean tour isn’t going as planned
These countries no longer have the Queen as Head of State
Before 1970, the Queen was Head of State of 32 countries, but since then, 17 countries have removed Her Majesty as their Head of State. The first country of the Commonwealth to remove the Queen was Guyana in 1970. Then in 1976 Trinidad and Tobago became independent from the UK. Two years later, in 1978 Dominica removed the Queen as Head of State. Then in 1992, Mauritius did the same.
Jamaica is following in these countries’ footsteps and is planning on separating from the Queen.
Barbados is the latest country to have removed the Queen as their Head of State. Indeed in November 2021 the country celebrated being independent of the UK after being under its monarchy for 40 years.
As the country celebrated, the Queen sent the following message:
As you celebrate this momentous day, I send you and all Barbadians my warmest good wishes for your happiness, peace and prosperity in the future.
Does the Queen have power in these countries?
Just like in the UK, the Queen has no power over the Commonwealth countries and is a symbolic ‘ruler’. Each country is governed independently of the British monarchy and elects its own governors and laws.
A Governor-General who acts as the Queen’s representative carries out ceremonial duties day-to-day that the Queen is usually expected to do.
