A new republic is born: Barbados celebrates ditching Britain's queen

FILE PHOTO: A statue of Royal Navy Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson stands with its plinth vandalised a day after the government of the Caribbean island of Barbados said it wished to remove Britain's Queen Elizabeth as its head of state and become a republic, in Bridgetown, Barbados September 16, 2020. REUTERS/Nigel R. Browne

LONDON (Reuters) - Barbados, a former British colony, will next week ditch Queen Elizabeth as head of state, breaking its last remaining imperial bonds with Britain nearly 400 years since the first English ship arrived at the Caribbean island.

Barbados casts the removal of Elizabeth II, who is queen of Barbados and 15 other realms including the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and Jamaica, as a sign of confidence and a way to finally break with the demons of its colonial history.