Barbados has declared singer Rihanna a national heroine during the celebration of the country's transition to a republic in Bridgetown. Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced the decision to a crowd, according to Reuters. On Tuesday morning, Barbados became the latest republic in the world, freeing itself from the authority of the British crown, in an official ceremony attended by the UK's Prince Charles, during which Queen Elizabeth II was stripped of her title as head of the state.
During the ceremony, the Governor-General of the Caribbean island, Sandra Mason, was sworn in as the head of the newly formed republic, and the British crown flag, which represented Barbados' subjugation to Queen Elizabeth II, was lowered, as reported by AFP. Barbados held its first presidential elections in October after 13 months of officially separating from the British crown.
The newly formed republic, known for its beautiful beaches and considered the pearl of the Lesser Antilles with a population of approximately 287,000, will now face the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on tourism and the inequalities inherited from its colonial past. The establishment of the republican system in this small Caribbean nation, which has been independent since 1966, followed years of local campaigns and lengthy discussions about centuries of British influence intertwined with two hundred years of slavery.
Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the island, known for its clear waters, attracted more than a million tourists each year.
