The impact of such a loss on the British crown would be catastrophic; some speculation that it could mark the beginning of its end.
Accusations of racism made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Meghan and Henry, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth II of England, against an unidentified member of the royal family threaten to undermine the support of the former Commonwealth colonies for the British monarchy.
More than 50 countries on five continents, with a population of over 2,000 million people and diverse races, are part of this family of nations and some of them have Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.
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Voices in favor of severing ties with the British monarchy have grown in countries such as Australia, but appear to have been strengthened after an interview with Dukes Harry and Meghan by US presenter Oprah Winfrey.
In that interview, released Sunday in the United States and Monday in the United Kingdom, Meghan Markle – who is a mixed race – revealed that a member of the British royal family questioned the skin color of the couple’s son at the time, Archie, almost 2 years.
Break with the monarchy
Barbados announced last year that in November 2021, on the 55th anniversary of its independence, it will become a republic.
Australian Republicans, who have been very active in recent years, have renewed their support for a constitutional change by demanding that Australia follow in Barbados’ footsteps.
With this range of races being the Commonwealth, the Duchess of Sussex acknowledged that she did not understand why the royal family did not appreciate the diversity of their origins as an “added benefit” to that organization and also as a reflection of the “world of today”. .
Continue reading: these are the 6 scandals of British royalty that came to light after the interview of Harry and Meghan
The director of the Commonwealth Institute of Studies, Philip Murphy, told the media that “Meghan, as a mixed race” and that she was outside the “class structure of the royal family” was a person who could be an “asset” to the organization.
Murphy acknowledged that Buckingham Palace, the official residence of the royal family, would now “fear” that the issue of racism would have “an impact on public opinion, especially in the Caribbean.” This will contribute to the ammunition of the Republican cause. “
In the Caribbean, the News Americas group, which has several media outlets, has just published an editorial stating that Commonwealth of Nations countries must “emancipate” themselves to free themselves from “the last chains of colonialism.”
These anti-monarchy voices emerge as the British government seeks to strengthen the country’s “global” dimension and strengthen ties with different regions, following its departure from the European Union (EU) on 31 January 2020.
For some it is not a priority
Canada, with strong ties to the United Kingdom, does not consider its constitutional model and the break-up of the monarchy to be in question, according to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
At the insistence of the press, Trudeau said this week that “if people want to talk about constitutional changes and change our system of government, nothing will happen. They can have these conversations. But right now, I don’t have these conversations. “
In Canada, the Quebecois Sovereignist Bloc (BQ) and the New Democratic Democratic Party (NPD) oppose the monarchy, but Trudeau’s Liberal Party (PL) and the Conservative Party (PC) defend the current constitutional system.
Faced with the withdrawal of the Dukes of Sussex as active members of the royal household, for whom they will no longer work, Queen Elizabeth II last month withdrew sponsorship from various organizations, including some related to the Commonwealth.
The sovereign made this decision a year after the dukes, who married in Windsor (outside London) in 2018, announced their decision to leave the United Kingdom and move away from the activities of the monarchy, which in their day the media named it “Megxit”.