MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) Queen Elizabeth's death has revived republican debate in the British overseas territories but Canada and, to a lesser extent, Australia and New Zealand will likely resist the calls to cut ties with the monarchy for now, a Conservative member of the House of Lords told Sputnik.
Within days of Queen Elizabeth's passing on Thursday, Antigua and Barbuda announced plans to vote on whether to remove King Charles III as the head of state. The British sovereign is the titular head of state in the 14 former British colonies but has no say in local politics.
Antigua and Barbuda's announcement comes just months after neighboring Jamaica said it wanted to transition away from a constitutional monarchy by 2025 and less than a year after Barbados split away from the crown in a historic move that ended the British monarchy's 29-year run of being unchallenged in its former dominions. The previous nation to split away was the island of Mauritius in 1992.
The queen's personal popularity has been widely seen as the glue that held together the Commonwealth of 56 mostly former British colonies and the accession of King Charles III has given a new momentum to the republican movement.
Richard Balfe, a member of the British parliament's upper house, told Sputnik that a number of Caribbean islands were likely to become republics but in the case of Australia and New Zealand and especially Canada, this was likely to be "some time away."
"In many respects having the monarch as titular head backed up with a local Governor General keeps the head of State out of politics which is quite useful... The South Pacific Islands are likely to remain with the King as Head of State because an alternative is not generally seen as satisfactory," Balfe explained.
"In the case of Canada, a previous Minister of Finance told me years ago that Canada would be the last place to become a Republic as it gave the Canadians an identity distinct from the USA and gave them, i.e. the USA, something to be jealous about," he added.
In the United Kingdom, there is very little support for abolishing the monarchy. About 14% of Brits polled have said they wanted to keep the monarch as the head of state, and no one in the House of Lords made a republican speech during official mourning ceremonies on Friday and Saturday, Balfe said.
There is also nothing pointing to the possibility of King Charles III stepping aside for Prince William, his eldest son and heir apparent to the throne. Balfe said William has had several years' practice and will make a good king but Charles might only abdicate if he became seriously ill.
