On November 30th, 2021, Barbados become the world’s newest republic.
"From this day and forever, declare Barbados a parliamentary republic.”
Barbados lowered the queen's flag
ended its allegiance to the British royal family
and severed more than 350 years of colonial ties to the monarchy.
But look who’s in attendance:
That's then Prince Charles.
"It was important that I should join you
to reaffirm those things which do not change."
Part of what Charles meant by that was that
even though Barbados was no longer a realm of the British Crown
it was remaining a member of the Commonwealth.
See as this was happening
the queen wasn’t just the queen of the UK.
She was also the queen of 14 of the British empire’s old colonies.
And they are all part of a larger organization
called the Commonwealth of Nations
also mad up mostly of former British colonies.
And the queen was the head of that too.
It’s a vestige of the British empire.
"We shall be able to make of this ancient commonwealth
which we all love so dearly, an even grander thing."
So let’s unpack it.
What happened to the British empire?
And what is the Commonwealth?
In 1926, when Queen Elizabeth II was born
Britain ruled over nearly a quarter of the world’s population through its colonies.
Over centuries the British Empire
refined systems to control and extract wealth and resources from them.
Like in Barbados
where they exploited the descendents of people kidnapped from Africa
on their sugar plantations.
Or in South Africa, where they took millions of karats of diamonds from local mines.
But although the British Empire was larger and more lucrative than ever
by the early 20th century there were early signs of its dissolution.
All these white settler colonies
like Australia and Canada, had become British dominions.
That meant they would no longer be ruled by Britain
but would symbolically remain constitutional monarchies under the crown.
They called it the British Commonwealth.
And it would turn out to be the future of the British Empire.
By the time Queen Elizabeth took the throne in the 1950s,
the world had changed even more.
After WWII Britain’s economy was suffering.
And across the empire, independence movements were on the rise.
Like in India, where independence movement leaders
had been fighting for sovereignty for decades.
Or in Kenya, where 1.5 million people fighting against British rule
were forced into concentration camps.
As the empire realized there was no stopping decolonization
the monarchy focused on maintaining its relevance.
Even though the queen would not attend the lowering of the British flag
her family would.
Her husband, Prince Philip, attended several ceremonies
marking the the independence of former colonies.
Including the one in Kenya.
As did other royals, like Lord Mount Batten in India.
India was given the choice to remain in the British Commonwealth
in the same way the former white settler colonies had.
But shortly after independence, India declared itself a republic
and refused to have a monarch.
So in an effort to maintain ties, the British Commonwealth reinvented itself.
As the queen put it during her first major royal tour as head of the Commonwealth:
“The commonwealth bears no resemblance to the empires of the past."
"It is an entirely new conception."
The British Commonwealth changed its name to the Commonwealth of Nations.
Over time it would allow countries
that were no longer under the queen like these
to join as Commonwealth members.
On the other hand, many newly independent countries
chose to keep the queen as their ceremonial head of state
and became commonwealth realms.
Like Barbados.
It was a mix of monarchies and republics and the queen presided over it.
Most visibly, by expanding the imperial tradition of conducting royal tours.
In many ways the British empire decolonized but the monarchy was global.
Today, nearly a third of the world’s population lives in a Commonwealth nation.
And while some countries have chosen to leave the commonwealth
others have decided to join despite not having been British colonies.
That's partly because although the Commonwealth is more or less a club
whose members don’t have legal obligations to each other.
It’s also one of the world’s largest political organizations
and can be a useful forum for countries that want to amplify their voice
or gain access to big diplomatic players like the UK, India, Canada, or the crown itself.
And although its members decided to make King Charles III the next head of the Commonwealth
they weren't required to.
Anyone can lead the organization.
Which leaves open the possibility that the Commonwealth, started by the British empire
has a future led by the very colonies it was designed to corral.
The Queen’s death inspired periods of mourning in many commonwealth nations.
In part, because she was remarkably good at uniting the Commonwealth
in a way that deflected from her country’s dark history.
But in recent years, the monarchy can't hide from it like it used to.
“From the darkest days of our past, and the appalling atrocity of slavery
which forever stains our history..."
The reckoning with Britain’s colonial history has reignited debates
over the role of the monarchy in the Commonwealth.
So has the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
But they also both point to the fact that much of the power in the Commonwealth
now lies with the Britain's former colonies.
And the question is: what do they want?