The Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, has said that having King Charles III as the head of state is ‘absurd’.
76 year old Gonsalves said wanted to see his country severed from the monarchy within his lifetime and do away with ‘the absurdity’.
He also said he would welcome an apology from the UK state for past injustices relating to slavery.
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The Mail Online reports: He told BBC Radio 4’s the World At One programme: ‘It’s something that I’m hoping to see consummated, the severing of the umbilical cord between our country and the British monarch.
‘King Charles knows that, he and I have discussed that in very amicable ways, but Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will remain in the Commonwealth.
Mr Gonsalves is the second Caribbean leader to call for an end to links with the monarchy since King Charles’ Coronation.
Terrance Drew, of St Kitts and Nevis Labour party who won a snap election in August, claimed his country is ‘not totally free’ while King Charles is its head of state, signalling the eastern Caribbean county could be the next to become a republic.
He told the BBC a public consultation on whether the Commonwealth realm nation should become a republic will start during his leadership.
Dr Drew has also called on the monarchy to apologise for its historic links to the slave trade, according to the BBC.
Buckingham Palace said King Charles III takes slavery ‘profoundly seriously’, amid his support for a landmark study into historical links between the monarchy and slavery.
