Charles III receives representatives of a Commonwealth shaken by republican aspirations
Charles III, head of state of 14 countries in addition to the United Kingdom, received representatives of the Commonwealth realms at Buckingham Palace in London on Sunday, in times, after the death of Elizabeth II, in which republican aspirations appear in some former British colonies.
The Commonwealth is made up of 56 States, mostly former British colonies, including 15 kingdoms (including the United Kingdom, Australia, the Bahamas, Canada, New Zealand or Jamaica), in which the new monarch is also head of state. .
During his third day as king, Charles III received the general secretary of the organization, Patricia Scotland, and the high commissioners of the United Kingdom, a kind of ambassadors from different kingdoms.
All the countries of the Commonwealth proclaimed Carlos as their new king after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, but beyond the emotion caused by the death of the monarch among the 2,500 million inhabitants of those 56 States, some wonder about Carlos’ ability to inspire the same loyalty and fidelity as his mother.
Like the Caribbean island of Barbados, which became a republic last year, 55 years after gaining independence from the United Kingdom, others are contemplating following suit.
A significant proportion of Australians expect their country to become a republic, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who however does not plan to hold a referendum during his first term, he said in an interview with Sky News.
In Canada, Republicans are still a minority, but a poll published last April showed that 67% of the population was not in favor of Carlos succeeding his mother.
And shortly after the proclamation, the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Brown, expressed his intention to organize a referendum “within the next three years”. “It is not a hostile act” towards the monarchy, “but the last stage to finish our road to independence,” he assured the British television network ITV.
During Prince William and his wife Catherine’s official visit to Jamaica last spring, when the couple faced criticism over the UK’s slave-owning past, Prime Minister Andrew Holness called the transition of their country towards a republican regime. (AFP)
Source: EL PAIS
