Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has said having a British monarch as head of state is “an absurdity” he would like to end in his lifetime.
Prime Minister Gonsalves in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said he would welcome an apology from the British state and monarchy on past injustices relating to slavery, saying he believes that King Charles III is open to talking about reparations.
King Charles is head of state in eight Caribbean countries.
Dr Gonsalves said the current constitutional arrangement “offends people in a psychological way” and that St. Vincent and the Grenadines wants a president “selected by our own constitutional processes”.
Within the past year, political leaders in the Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda have all indicated their plans to review their positions as constitutional monarchies.
