Barbados is Now a Parliamentary Republic

Dame Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados’s first-ever president on Monday, November 29, 2021.

Barbados has officially removed Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, freeing itself from the British monarchy after nearly 400 years of colonization. The Queen remains head of state in 15 countries, including Antigua, Barbuda, the Bahamas, and Grenada.

Prince Charles joined the ceremony by formally acknowledging Britain’s “appalling atrocity of slavery” in the Caribbean. Barbadian singer, actress and fashion designer Rihanna also attended the ceremony, where she was declared a national hero by Barbados’s prime minister.

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Born in the working class district of St Philip, Mason, now 72, credits Barbados’s public education system for her stellar achievements.

“Education in Barbados is free,” she said. “You can achieve anything you want, and because of that, I felt it incumbent upon me … to give something back.”

She completed her law degree at the University of the West Indies in 1973, and was called to the bar in 1975 as an attorney-at-law. Mason worked at Barclays Bank as a lawyer before becoming a magistrate and family law tutor. In 1997, she became the Registrar of the Supreme Court.

As president, Mason will hold the highest office in the country and her powers will no longer be vested in the monarch. But her duties will be largely ceremonial, in most cases requiring the co-signature of Prime Minister Mia Mottley.

In 2020, the Barbados parliament voted to transition from a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth as head of state to a parliamentary republic with a prime minister and a ceremonial president as head of state. Sandra Mason was unanimously elected by the parliament to become the first President of Barbados.

Mason, who is 72, noted, “I was born and grew up in the time of colonialism and witnessed Barbados’ independence, I am part of the bridge generation from the colonial past to the independent nation to the future of the new republic.”

When asked about the transition, Mason stated: “The time has come to fully leave our colonial past behind. Barbadians want a Barbadian head of state.”