400 years later: Barbados bids adieu to UK Queen to become a republic

Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday and forged a new republic, severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean island.

Several leaders and dignitaries, including Prince Charles, attended the ceremony at a popular square where the statue of a well-known British lord was removed last year.

“We the people must give Republic Barbados its spirit and its substance,” said President Sandra Mason, the island's first president. Elizabeth II is still queen of 15 other realms, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Jamaica.