Prince William says people in ex-colonies must decide monarchy's role

MSN – AFP, 27 March 2022 

© CHANDAN KHANNA Prince William has said that the Caribbean's former British
colonies must decide whether to scrap the monarchy's role in their countries

Prince William ended a turbulent tour of the Caribbean by starkly admitting this weekend that the region's former British colonies must decide whether to scrap the monarchy's role in their countries. 

The 39-year-old Duke of Cambridge also hinted that a British royal may in future no longer head the club of 54 Commonwealth countries as the political association of ex-colonies evolves. 

The unusually candid comments, which were splashed on the front of several British newspapers Sunday, followed a rocky three-country Caribbean tour over the last week which drew both protests and criticism. 

William and his wife Catherine, 40, faced calls to apologise for the slave trade that helped make past British royals' fortunes, and accusations of appearing "tone deaf" over elements of the visit. 

They were also forced to confront the issue of former colonies considering whether to follow Barbados' lead and ditch the queen as their head of state. 

Barbados formally declared itself a republic in November. 

Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas -- all stops on the royal tour -- are each said to be mulling such a move. 

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness pointedly told William in front of television cameras that the nation was "moving on" as an independent country. 

"I know that this tour has brought into even sharper focus questions about the past and the future," the Duke of Cambridge said in an end-of-tour statement Saturday. 

"In Belize, Jamaica and The Bahamas, that future is for the people to decide upon."   

William added he and his wife "are committed to service" and that meant "not telling people what to do" but instead "serving and supporting them". 

'On my mind' 

The Commonwealth, a grouping of 54 mainly former British colonies, is headed by Queen Elizabeth II. 

In 2018, its leaders formally announced that her son and heir Prince Charles would inherit the role when he becomes king. 

But William, second-in-line to the throne, said that "who the Commonwealth chooses to lead its family in the future isn't what is on my mind". 

"What matters to us is the potential the Commonwealth family has to create a better future for the people who form it, and our commitment to serve and support as best we can," he added. 

The couple's Caribbean trip was intended to help Commonwealth countries where his 95-year-old grandmother is also head of state celebrate her record-breaking 70 years on the throne. 

But what were designed to be carefully choreographed photocalls and public appearances for Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee did not go entirely to plan. 

In Belize, they angered some locals after failing to consult on parts of their itinerary, while they then prompted placard-bearing protests in Jamaica. 

Demonstrators demanded the monarchy pay reparations and apologize for its role in the slave trade that brought hundreds of thousands of Africans to the island to toil under inhumane conditions. 

Meanwhile, some of the optics of the tour drew criticism for evoking colonial rule, including the couple greeting kids through metal chain-link fences and William parading in an open-topped jeep in military uniform.

UK govt slams students for ditching 'colonial' queen portrait

 Yahoo – AFP, June 9, 2021

The queen has become the latest victim of what the Daily Telegraph
called 'cancel culture'

The UK government has criticised graduate students at the University of Oxford who removed a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, claiming it represented a colonial past that many found offensive. 

The move comes as students across the country have played a leading role in protests against historical figures with links to the British empire or slavery. 

The queen "has become the latest victim of cancel culture", or ostracism of those whose opinions are deemed unacceptable, the right-leaning Daily Telegraph wrote on Wednesday. 

Graduate students at Magdalen College took down the colourised print of the queen from their recreation room after a majority vote, because "for some students, depictions of the monarch and the British monarchy represent recent colonial history", The Times reported. 

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson reacted angrily Tuesday night, calling the move "simply absurd".

"She is the head of state and a symbol of what is best about the UK," he tweeted. 

Hanging portraits of the queen is not customary in state educational institutions, but some colleges at Cambridge and Oxford universities have portraits on display. 

"It was decided that the room should be a welcoming, neutral place for all members, regardless of background, demographic, or views," said Matthew Katzman, head of the Middle Common Room committee at Magdalen. 

"Freedom of speech allows even intelligent people to be offensive and obnoxiously ignorant," Oxford University Chancellor Chris Patten was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying of the decision. 

The student protest comes as the queen is due to celebrate her 70th jubilee next year. 

BBC TV presenter Richard Madeley asked: "How can this make any sense when this queen has presided over the dismantling of what was left of empire?" 

Another Oxford college, Oriel, last month reversed its decision to remove a controversial statue of the 19th-century colonialist Cecil Rhodes -- a major donor. 

That U-turn sparked widespread anger. 

British sculptor Antony Gormley suggested to The Financial Times that the statue should instead be turned round to face the wall in shame.

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Chagos islands: The fight over Africa’s last British colony

DW, 22 November 2019

A piece of Britain lies between Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. To date the Chagos Islands are still under British control and their inhabitants live in exile. But the UK has missed a deadline to return them.

   

The anger in his voice is clearly audible. There is a lack of goodwill on the side of the British government, Olivier Bancoult says. The fight over the Chagos archipelago has been dragging on for too long. "We are continuing to put pressure [on the British government]," Bancoult told DW. As a young boy, Bancoult was one of the Chagos residents who were forced to resettle. Today he lives in Mauritius and as a lawyer has been fighting for the people of Chagos and their descendants to return to the islands. On Friday, November 22, the United Nations deadline for the return of the islands to its people. Bancoult is amongst the organizers of a demonstration outside the British High Commission in Mauritius.

Mauritius, which had once been part of the same colonial territory as the Chagos islands, gained its independence in 1968. Between 1968 and 1973, up to 2,000 residents of the Chagos archipelago were forced to move to Mauritius, the Seychelles and UK in order to establish a military base on the main island, Diego Garcia. In the meantime, the UK has leased it to the US until 2036. Chagos served as a military base for both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The largest island, Diego Garcis, serves as a US military base

Geostrategic importance

"We were poor people who are living in peace and harmony until they made the decision to giv one of the largest islands to America to make a military base. Since that time our nightmare started. Many of us were forcibly removed from our native land to live in Mauritius and the Seychelles," Bancoult told DW. In February the International Court of Justice in The Hague, ruled that the archipelago is legally a part of Mauritius. The court said that Britain had illegally separated the islands from Mauritius and should give them back.

The British government rejected the ruling. "The UK has no doubt as to our sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which has been under continuous British sovereignty since 1814," read a statement by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The statement, however, alleged that Britain had pledged  to hand over the islands to Mauritius when they are no longer needed for defense purposes.

In May, the UN General Assembly also called on the UK to handover the islands. The deadline for the handover expired on November 22, but the resolution is not binding and the UK seems to have no intention to make such a move in the near future.

The strategic location and the military role of the island, make the very calls for its independence very difficult.  Philippe Sands, a British lawyer who advises the Mauritian government on the Chagos matter, believes that talks between the UK, the US and Mauritius will continue to take place. "Mauritius has indicated that the military base could even remain on the island," Sands told DW.

Read more: The Commonwealth: Still relevant for Africa today?

The archipelago belings to the same island group as Mauritius which
gained independence from Britain in 1968

Clinging onto the last African colony

Sands believes that Britain's reluctance to bow to international pressure lies in the fact that it is still coming to terms with its new place in world politics. "[The UK] is a diminished power. It has lost its judge at the International Court of Justice, it has lost a series of resolutions at the UN General Assembly. I think its just taking time to come to the realization, that ist legal situation and is very different, but ultimately I think the UK will comply with the court," Sands said.

The UK, Sands explained, is paying a high price for its political losses. "They're in the process of leaving the European Union, and they have to negotiate new trade agreements and political agreements with several countries. The government is in real trouble and I think that is why it is clinging on to its last colony in Africa," Sands said.  For him, keeping the islands under British control amounts to a crime against the people of Chagos.

Chagossians celebrate the news of the UN resolution calling on the
UK give up control of the islands (February 2019)

Hopes set on upcoming UK elections

According to Sands, the UN is already preparing new maps which show the Chagos islands as part of Mauritius. Additionally Mauritius is the only country that can have legal rights to fishing and overflying rights of the area.

Sands and Bancoult have the hope that the upcoming UK elections set for December 12 could make a difference. "The Labour party has promised to respect the ruling of the International Court of Justice," Sands said. "If the next government is under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn that would be very good,” Bancoult said. "He already supports us."

According to Bancoult, 596 Chagossians who were forced to leave the islands are still alive today. All in all, he said, they have 9.800 descendants who identify as Chagossians. Bancoult himself finds the thought of growing old away from his homeland difficult. "Most old people want to die where they were born," he said.

British 'barbarians' need manners lesson, says China paper

Yahoo – AFP, May 12, 2016

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II hosts a State Banquet for Chinese President Xi Jinping,
at Buckingham Palace in London, on October 20, 2015 (AFP Photo/Dominic Lipinski)

Beijing (AFP) - The British media is riddled with "barbarians" who would benefit from a lesson in manners from China's ancient civilisation, a state-run newspaper said Thursday after Queen Elizabeth II called some Chinese officials "very rude".

In a rare diplomatic gaffe, the British monarch was caught on camera at a Buckingham Palace garden party making unguarded comments about a state visit last year by President Xi Jinping that drummed up billions in Chinese investment.

In a rare diplomatic gaffe, Britain's Queen 

Elizabeth II was caught on camera at a 

Buckingham Palace garden party making

 unguarded comments about a state visit last 

year by President Xi Jinping that drummed

 up billions in Chinese investment (AFP

Photo/John Stillwell)

The remarks made headlines worldwide on Wednesday but initially they were largely censored in China, blacked out of BBC World transmissions, according to the British broadcaster.

The Global Times newspaper, which is close to China's ruling Communist Party, blamed the British media for blowing the incident out of proportion and fawning over the footage as if it was "the most precious treasure".

"The West in modern times has risen to the top and created a brilliant civilisation, but their media is full of reckless 'gossip fiends' who bare their fangs and brandish their claws and are very narcissistic, retaining the bad manners of 'barbarians'," it said in an editorial.

"As they experience constant exposure to the 5,000 years of continuous Eastern civilisation, we believe they will make progress" when it comes to manners, it added in the Chinese-language piece, which was not published in English.

London and Beijing have both proclaimed a new "golden era" of relations between the former imperial power -- whose forces repeatedly invaded China in the 19th century -- and the rising Asian giant, now the world's second-largest economy.

Xi's trip in October saw a clutch of contracts announced, which Cameron said were worth almost $58 billion.

At the time the overseas edition of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's official mouthpiece, breathlessly portraying the visit as the start of a beautiful friendship.

But in her recorded comments the Queen commiserated with a police commander for her "bad luck" in having to oversee security for Xi and his wife.

Members of the Chinese delegation "were very rude to the ambassador", the monarch said, exclaiming: "Extraordinary!"

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II speaks with Prime Minister David Cameron (2nd R) during a
reception at Buckingham Palace in London, on May 10, 2016 (AFP Photo/Paul Hackett)

'Exposing itself'

A columnist at Chinese website "Today's Headlines" recalled visible mutual discomfort during the three-day sojourn, describing it as "thought-provoking awkwardness" and adding it "primarily arose out of cultural and political differences".

On Chinese social media posters decried Britain's lack of awareness and understanding of Chinese ways, noting "an arrogance which makes them feel they needn't bother to learn".

"Every country's customs are different, OK - not all people must cater to you," wrote a commenter on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo.

Others were ashamed.

"We're already embarrassed by talk about what our average people get up to abroad," said one. "Being embarrassed by our officials abroad is even worse."

The British monarch never expresses overtly political views in public and is known for her discretion, never granting an interview in her 64-year reign.

But her comments came as British Prime Minister David Cameron was recorded calling Nigeria and Afghanistan "possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world", heaping scrutiny on the tete-a-tetes of British leadership.

"Even among Western countries, Britain is most frequently 'caught with its pants down' and 'exposing itself'," the Global Times editorial said.

But it added that it would be "unthinkable" for British authorities to have deliberately leaked the royal footage, as "if they had deliberately done so, that would have been truly crude and rude".

The paper shrugged off the Queen's comments themselves as "not a big deal", stating: "Chinese diplomats surely also scoff at British bureaucrats in private."

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Australia ditches 'out of date' knights and dames

Australian leaders unite for split with Britain's Queen Elizabeth

As Australia prepares to commemorate Australia Day, seven of its eight state and territory leaders have called for the country to become a republic. Britain's Queen Elizabeth is currently head of state.

Deutsche Welle, 25 January 2016

Seven of Australia's eight state and territory leaders signed a declaration published on Monday for an Australian head of state to replace Britain's queen.

Australia is currently a constitutional monarchy with Britain's Queen Elizabeth as its head of state. On January 26 each year, Australia marks Australia Day, which commemorates the start of British settlement in 1788. The anniversary often brings up the debate surrounding Australia's sovereignty.

"It's well past time for Australia to become a sovereign nation," said South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill in a statement. "Any self-respecting, independent country would aspire to select one of its own citizens as its head of state."

Weatherill said it would be "the ultimate act of respect" if Queen Elizabeth presided over the transfer of Australia from a monarchy to a republic. "I mean if you think about it, what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for her to die? I would have thought that it's much more respectful to have her supervise this transition," he said on television on Monday.

The only dissenting voice, Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett, said he also supported a republic but did not think "the time is right."

Republican PM Turnbull

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull (photo), a staunch republican, became a leader last year in place of monarchist Tony Abbott. This gave rise to suggestions the change to a republic might become a live issue. But Turnbull, who led the Australian Republican Movement in the 1990s, said "My commitment to Australia having an Australian head of state is undiminished," but that it was not a priority on his political agenda.

In response to Monday's declaration by the state leaders, Turnbull said he believed a national vote would be unlikely during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Britain's 89-year-old monarch.

In 1999, a referendum proposing a republic was defeated, with 55 percent of people voting against.

'Knightmare'

Last year, then prime minister Tony Abbot knighted the husband of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, a move which led to wide-ranging criticism from politicians, public and the media who dubbed it a "knightmare." Abbot's party replaced him with Turnbull shortly afterwards.

Don't forget to Toast the Queen at your Australia Day BBQs, just don't go OTT & knight a prince or anything #Straya https://t.co/67ZZvFePHp

— Tim Watts (@TimWattsMP) January 25, 2016

Current Australia Day celebrations focus on diversity in Australian society with a range of community events and awards. Citizenship ceremonies for new immigrants are also held.

jm/jil (AP, Reuters)

Australian High Commissioner Alexander Downer attends a ceremony where

 Queen Elizabeth II presents Prince Philip with the Insignia of a Knight of the

Order of Australia at Windsor Castle on April 22, 2015 (AFP Photo/John Stillwell)

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