巴巴多斯
布里奇敦（美国有线电视新闻网）伊丽莎白女王将在本周之后减少一个王国，届时巴巴多斯将取消其与英国的最后帝国联系，取消这位 95 岁的国家元首并宣布自己为共和国。
这个 1966 年获得独立的前英国殖民地于去年 9 月恢复了成为共和国的计划，该国总督桑德拉·梅森 (Sandra Mason) 说，“现在是完全抛弃我们的殖民历史的时候了。”
现年 73 岁的前法学家梅森将在周一晚间举行的仪式上宣誓就职，成为这个拥有不到 30 万人口的岛国的首位总统。巴巴多斯议会上个月选举了梅森。
出席庆祝活动的将是查尔斯王子，他是英国王位的继承人，也是英联邦的未来领袖，英联邦是一个由 54 名成员组成的组织，主要是前英国领土。应总理米娅·阿莫尔·莫特利的邀请，他于周日晚些时候抵达巴巴多斯进行过渡仪式。
抵达布里奇敦首府后，他受到仪仗队的迎接，随后响起 21 响礼炮。
威尔士亲王将在庆祝共和国诞生的午夜过后发表讲话，这是该国宣布从英国独立以来的第 55 天。
“随着你的宪法地位发生变化，我应该和你一起重申那些不会改变的事情，这对我来说很重要，”王位继承人将在国家英雄广场对人群说。
“例如，作为英联邦重要成员的巴巴多斯和英国之间的密切和可信赖的伙伴关系；我们共同决心捍卫我们都珍视的价值观并追求我们共同的目标；以及我们国家人民之间的无数联系——通过它流动着钦佩和喜爱、合作和机会——加强和丰富我们所有人。”
据了解，查尔斯还将重申他与该国的关系，他在 50 年前首次访问了该国，并赞扬了巴巴多斯侨民对英国的宝贵贡献。他最后一次访问巴巴多斯是在 2019 年，当时他与妻子卡米拉在加勒比海之旅中。
巴巴多斯的决定标志着近三十年来第一次有一个王国选择罢免英国君主作为国家元首。最后一个这样做的国家是 1992 年的毛里求斯岛。与那个国家一样，巴巴多斯也打算继续成为英联邦的一部分。
一位皇室消息人士去年告诉美国有线电视新闻网，这一决定是巴巴多斯政府和人民的事情，并补充说这并非“突然”，并且已经“提出并公开谈论”了很多次。
2014 年至 2018 年期间担任巴巴多斯驻英国高级专员的盖伊·休伊特 (Guy Hewitt) 说：“成为共和国是一个时代的到来。”抵押贷款，把钥匙还给他们的父母，因为它表明我们正在继续前进。”
Barbados is ready to ditch Britain's Queen. For many in the country, the move has been a long time coming
Bridgetown, Barbados (CNN)Queen Elizabeth will have one less realm after this week, when Barbados severs its final imperial links to Britain by removing the 95-year-old as its head of state and declaring itself a republic.
The former British colony -- which gained independence in 1966 -- revived its plan to become a republic last September with the country's governor general, Sandra Mason, saying, "the time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind."
Mason, a 73-year-old former jurist, will be sworn in as the first-ever president of the island nation of just under 300,000 at a ceremony late on Monday night. The Barbadian parliament elected Mason last month.
Present at the festivities will be Prince Charles, heir to the British throne and future head of the Commonwealth, a 54-member organization of mostly former British territories. He arrived in Barbados late Sunday for the ceremonial transition, after an invitation from Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley.
Upon arrival in the capital of Bridgetown, he was greeted with an honor guard, followed by a 21-gun salute.
The Prince of Wales will give a speech at the ceremony just after midnight marking the birth of the republic, which comes 55 years to the day since the country declared independence from Britain.
"As your constitutional status changes, it was important to me that I should join you to reaffirm those things which do not change," the heir to the throne will tell a crowd in National Heroes Square.
"For example, the close and trusted partnership between Barbados and the United Kingdom as vital members of the Commonwealth; our common determination to defend the values we both cherish and to pursue the goals we share; and the myriad connections between the people of our countries -- through which flow admiration and affection, co-operation and opportunity -- strengthening and enriching us all."
It is understood Charles will also reaffirm his relationship with the country, which he first visited 50 years ago and commend the Barbadian diaspora for its invaluable contribution in the UK. His last visit to Barbados was in 2019 while on a Caribbean tour with wife, Camilla.
Barbados's decision marks the first time in nearly three decades that a realm has opted to remove the British monarch as head of state. The last nation to do so was the island of Mauritius in 1992. Like that country, Barbados too intends to remain part of the Commonwealth.
A royal source told CNN last year the decision was a matter for the government and people of Barbados, adding that it was not "out of the blue" and had been "mooted and publicly talked" about many times.
"Becoming a republic is a coming of age," said Guy Hewitt, who served as Barbados high commissioner to the United Kingdom between 2014 and 2018. "I make the analogy to when a child grows up and gets their own house, gets their own mortgage, gives their parents back the keys because it says we are moving on."
