The timing of the event is meant to “signal to the head of state that the priority is to move away from his leadership, rather than focus on his coronation,” Hamilton said. Rosalea Hamilton, an advocate for changing Jamaica’s constitution to get rid of the royals, said she was organizing a coronation day forum to engage more Jamaicans in the process of political reform. The royal family will “support with pride and respect your decisions about your future,” he told a reception in the Bahamas. William, the heir to the throne, observed later in the same trip that the relationship between the monarchy and the Caribbean has evolved. It made for an awkward photo with the royal couple, who were also confronted with protests calling for Britain to pay slavery reparations. Last year, when Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness welcomed Prince William and his wife, Kate, during a royal tour of the Caribbean, he announced that his country intends to become fully independent. The decision spurred similar republican movements in neighboring Jamaica, the Bahamas and Belize. Barbados was the most recent Commonwealth country to remove the British monarch as its head of state, replacing Charles’ mother, Queen Elizabeth II, with an elected president in 2021.

Rome by Jay Crownover