Jamaica Considers Severing Ties with British Monarchy Ahead of King Charles Coronation

The country is already considering severing its ties with the British monarchy, and would be able to follow in the footsteps of another former British colony in the Caribbean, namely Barbados.

With a bitter history of slavery and plantations that made some Britons wealthy but left many Jamaicans poor, relations with Britain are not seen as happy.

Therefore, there is little joy and excitement associated with the lavish coronation ceremony that takes place in London on May 6.

– It means nothing to me as I don’t see them doing anything for us here in Jamaica, says Claudeth Brown (68), who sells peanuts and soft drinks in the capital Kingston.

Carpenter David Brown (65) also thinks along those lines.

– If we are independent, why should we have another head of state from abroad?, he said while catching sardines in Kingston harbor on a day off from work.

Former colony

Maziki Thame, a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, agrees that the coronation is of little importance in Jamaica.

– It is not part of my dreams related to Jamaica’s future, and I suspect that this is how most people here think now, she tells Reuters.

Jamaica first came into England’s grip in 1655 when they took over power there from Spain, which first forcibly shipped Africans there as slaves. In 1962, the country became independent, but retained the British monarch as head of state and remained part of the Commonwealth of Nations. In the years since, the country has often been rocked by political and criminal violence.

A number of Jamaicans have emigrated to the UK, keeping links between the countries alive. So has the devotion to Queen Elizabeth. She was Queen when Jamaica gained its independence.

Republic?

But even in the time before Queen Elizabeth died last autumn, the desire to be a republic took hold in several countries in the Caribbean.

Barbados removed the British monarch as head of state in 2021. Antigua and Barbuda, Belize and the Bahamas have all expressed interest in doing the same, while Trinidad and Tobago and Dominica are already republics.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has stated that his country is “moving forward”. In March, he announced a constitutional reform committee to assist in the transition.

– We want to take a step further in redefining who we are as a country and as a sovereign people, he said.

– Crucial

Breaking ties with the monarchy is essential for Jamaica, says Steven Golding, head of the nationalist organization UNIAA-ACL, founded by activist Marcus Garvey.

– Considering the horrors we suffered through in the era of slavery and throughout the colonial era, I think it is the last piece of the puzzle when it comes to our sovereignty as an independent nation, says Golding.

When he took over as king after his mother’s death, Charles became head of state not only for Great Britain, but also for 14 other countries. They include Canada, Australia and precisely Jamaica.

In order to become a republic, Jamaica’s constitution requires a two-thirds majority in both houses of the National Assembly, plus a simple majority in a referendum, according to constitutional expert Lloyd Barnett.

However, a two-thirds majority in one chamber and a simple majority in the other chamber would result in a referendum requiring a two-thirds majority.

Feeling of betrayal

A 2022 poll conducted by statistician Don Anderson found that 56 percent of Jamaicans want to remove the monarch as head of state.

– Jamaicans are more attuned to the situation now and probably more inclined to want and support a separation from the monarchy, Anderson told Reuters then.

The emotional ties to the Queen that persisted among older Jamaicans have probably disappeared now, he continued.

In recent years, the Windrush scandal, where it became clear that hundreds of immigrants to Britain were detained or deported after living there for years, has given Jamaicans a sense of betrayal in addition to the other bad feelings associated with the British.

Demonstrated

And the monarchy is irrelevant to the everyday lives of Jamaicans, says lawyer Danielle Archer. She is a spokeswoman for the Advocates Network, a group that planned protests when Britain’s Prince William and Princess Kate visit Jamaica in 2022. The protesters held signs demanding the couple apologize for the slavery era.

During a state dinner, Prince William expressed “deep sorrow” but made no formal apology. Neither did his father, who spoke of his “personal grief at the suffering of so many” in a speech later that year.

King Charles also acknowledged that several nations in the Commonwealth are looking towards becoming republics, and said that it was up to the countries themselves to decide how they would organize themselves constitutionally.

Slavery

Around 600,000 Africans were forced to Jamaica to work as slaves on sugar, cotton and banana plantations between the 15th and 19th centuries, according to the country’s National Library. British authorities were involved in the slave trade, and compensated plantation owners for lost labor when a ban on slavery was introduced in 1834.

In recent years, certain authorities, individuals, institutions and private companies have apologized for their roles in the slave trade, including the Netherlands.

The era of slavery has left deep traces, says Archer from the Advocates Network.

– Take a trip to any Caribbean island, any country that was under the grip of colonialism. You will see poverty. You will see where the resources have been taken from the country and given to the wealthy, she says.

Archer himself has plans to watch the coronation of King Charles on TV, albeit reluctantly.

– I would like to hear what, if anything, Charles has to say about the subjects in Jamaica, she says.