Republic of Barbados and Charles' visit

[HarrisonStickle]

Tonight Barbados will become a republic.

Charles Windsor is over there and during a ceremony in the capital Bridgetown he'll receive the Freedom of Barbados for extraordinary service to the country.

What is this extraordinary service? I understand many think honouring him is in poor taste given how Barbados became involved in the slave trade because of the UK.

It feels like a sop to make up for the banishment of his mother as HoS.

@Sittinginthesand

Charles was invited to the peaceful transfer of power and accepted - what other diplomatic response is there? Peaceful transfers of power are very rare - we can be proud of this. Charles acknowledged the wrongs of the past, which is even more unusual. OP you sound a little over emotional about this - you do realise that you can be a republican and against the institution without thinking that the individuals are terrible people. Charles wasn’t involved in the slave trade - he can’t apologise as of he was, it would sound patronising and insincere. He’s just a normal person who didn’t choose his role - which is the whole reason for opposing having a monarch, not that they are dreadful people.

I sound over emotional? Where exactly? I was just wondering why he's there and why they're rewarding him.

Sittinginthesand:- you can be a republican and against an institution without thinking that the individuals are terrible people.

Thank you for writing that. People do it all the time, with politicians as well as RF. You can think that you prefer one political party without hating and denouncing another or making snide remarks about a politician's shoes, and you can like some things which a member of the RF does and not others and you can like some of them but not all. There seems to be an awful need with some people nowadays to be so polarised. You see it in tabloids where people are invited to ring in with a Yes or a No to some question, which is far more complicated, and it's mainly there for someone to make money out of the phone calls.

I was just wondering why he's there and why they're rewarding him.

I doubt it’s seen as a reward, it’s just a gesture. I assume the move to become a republic is very popular in Barbados (there was no referendum I don’t think, so I don’t have actual stats), but it won’t have been 100%, just because nothing ever is. Maybe inviting a royal and giving the award was just a sort of nod those the presumably small percentage of people who didn’t want the change. Its not going to change anyone’s mind, but if you have some who still support the monarchy, having Charles there to say something nice and be presented with an award helps with just sort of smoothing it over I’d imagine.

'Charles was invited to the peaceful transfer of power and accepted - what other diplomatic response is there? Peaceful transfers of power are very rare - we can be proud of this. Charles acknowledged the wrongs of the past, which is even more unusual. OP you sound a little over emotional about this - you do realise that you can be a republican and against the institution without thinking that the individuals are terrible people. Charles wasn’t involved in the slave trade - he can’t apologise as of he was, it would sound patronising and insincere. He’s just a normal person who didn’t choose his role - which is the whole reason for opposing having a monarch, not that they are dreadful people.'

Exactly. He was invited. What an absolutely brilliant transfer of power, all so dignified.

How can it be a transfer of power?
Did the RF have real power in Barbados?

Maybe inviting a royal and giving the award was just a sort of nod those the presumably small percentage of people who didn’t want the change.

I imagine that it is also about signalling to the rest of the world that this is not a hostile break up and that the UK and Barbados still intend to be on good terms going forward.

@julieca

How can it be a transfer of power? Did the RF have real power in Barbados?

Yes.

HMQ was the head of state.

From the 1600s until 1966 Barbados was a colony. With independence, they opted to continue with the same royal family as their monarchs. That has now gone, and presidential powers have been created

@RoseAndRose but I thought they were figureheads with no real power?
So what power do they have?

[quote julieca]@RoseAndRose but I thought they were figureheads with no real power?
So what power do they have?[/quote]
The power to appoint, on advice of the PM of Barbados, the Governor General of Barbados.
The Governor General granted royal assent to bills, in the queen’s name. The GG also technically had the power, among other things, to pardon any convict, appoint civil servants and prorogue parliament. They also chaired the privy council of Barbados.

That role has now been abolished and the role of president created. I don’t know how exactly the role of GG maps onto the role of president here, but clearly powers have been transferred from the monarchy to the government of Barbados.

Okay sounds similar to Britain then. But they are largely pretend powers. They do lobby for their won interests, but the RF have never for example refused to grant royal assent to bills.
I know I may seem to labour this. But the comment about how rare it is to have a peaceful transfer of power is disingenuous. There is a peaceful transfer of a figurehead.

@julieca

Okay sounds similar to Britain then. But they are largely pretend powers. They do lobby for their won interests, but the RF have never for example refused to grant royal assent to bills. I know I may seem to labour this. But the comment about how rare it is to have a peaceful transfer of power is disingenuous. There is a peaceful transfer of a figurehead.

I’d agree that this isn’t equivalent to other things people might call a peaceful transfer of power. And it certainly isn’t remarkable that it’s peaceful, we were never going to send in the military and start a war over the Queen being removed.

But if they wanted to invite him I’m not sure why it matters.