There’s just wall-to-wall disrespect for King Charles in the UK and abroad. I love it! People stayed quiet in the last years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign, but now that Charles is in charge, Commonwealth countries are beginning the slow and steady process of phasing out the British monarchy. Incidentally, in an embarrassing move for Charles, the Shetland Islands will not declare Charles’s coronation weekend a national holiday. Shetland’s council has said that it won’t be a bank holiday or school holiday for them. Ouch. Even worse, the Caribbean nations are increasingly looking to remove the British monarch from their currency.
Could Queen Elizabeth II be the last British monarch to feature on the currency of the Eastern Caribbean? Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy NJ Antoine alluded to that possibility, saying his evaluation was that there is “no appetite” in the region for its continuation.
Speaking at a media briefing as the ECCB sought to highlight its 40th anniversary calendar of events, Governor Antoine said that the decision would be left up to the Monetary Council, which is made up of the member states’ Finance Ministers.
“With the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, it is a fair question: what comes next? That is a decision that our Monetary Council, most of whom are Prime Ministers, will make in due course,” he said. The death of Queen Elizabeth last year has reopened the debate on the type of relationship that former British colonies in the Commonwealth, including many of the Eastern Caribbean states, will have with the United Kingdom.
The Reserve Bank of Australia—its central bank—has already announced its intention to not include King Charles’ portrait on its $5 banknote (although Royal Australian Mint noted that King Charles will replace his mother on the country’s coins).
Governor Antoine said, regardless of the decision made by the Monetary Council, it would be years before any change is made about a new banknote design.
“I have said before that there is no imminent change to our existing currency; we have in stock three to four years of mint condition [bank]notes. We are not going to burn them up or throw them away, we invested heavily in them,” he explained. The ECCB Governor continued that, in his discussions around the region, there was more interest in replacing the monarch with another Caribbean icon.
I’ve said this before, but I honestly believe that Charles has pretty much made his peace with the fact that he’s going to “lose” the Caribbean commonwealth nations, that those countries will all seek to become republics in his reign. Charles is much more focused on “keeping” Canada, Australia and New Zealand as part of his “empire.” The thing is, it feels like every commonwealth country is on the same page: there’s “no appetite” to continue with this farce, that the British monarchy should be localized to only the UK, that there’s a need to phase out all of this bullsh-t.
#CARIBBEAN: In what may be considered the latest snub to the British Royal Family, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor Timothy Antoine, says in his evaluation there is “no appetite” in the region for King Charles to feature on the currency of the Eastern Caribbean. pic.twitter.com/0ISxjEusM2
— CaribbeanNewsNetwork (@caribbeannewsuk) February 16, 2023
Photos courtesy of Instar.
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- North America Rights Only – Rwanda, Rwanda -20220623- Prince Charles attends a Commonwealth Business Forum Exhibition at Kigali Cultural Exhibition Village, as part of his visit to Rwanda. -PICTURED: Prince Charles -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Yellowknife, Canada -20220519- Prince Charles And Camilla Duchess Of Cornwall attend a Platinum Jubilee Ceremony at Ceremonial Circle, in Yellowknife, during their three-day trip to Canada to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. -PICTURED: Prince Charles -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – Rwanda, Rwanda -20220623- Prince Charles at Umusambi Village, Kigali’s first and only wildlife sanctuary, operated by the Rwanda Wildlife Conservation Association (RWCA), as part of the royal visit to Rwanda. -PICTURED: Prince Charles -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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- North America Rights Only – London, UK -20220512- Prince Charles And Camilla Duchess Of Cornwall arrive for their visit to Canada House in London, ahead of their forthcoming tour. -PICTURED: Prince Charles, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall -PHOTO by: PA Images/INSTARimages.com Disclaimer: This is an editorial, rights-managed image. Please contact INSTAR Images for licensing fee and rights information at sales@instarimages.com or call +1 212 414 0207. This image may not be published in any way that is, or might be deemed to be, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification needed prior to publication and use. INSTAR Images reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this material. If you are in violation of our intellectual property rights or copyright you may be liable for damages, loss of income, any profits you derive from the unauthorized use of this material and, where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or any statutory damages awarded For images containing underage children: Be advised that some Countries may have restricted privacy laws against publishing images of underage children. Inform yourself! Underage children may need to be removed or have their face pixelated before publishing
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Or canadian
Now if we can just get Canadians to convey that to their MPs…
Send them an email and let them know! Takes just a few minutes.
It’s a huge, unnecessary cost. There are plenty of Canadians we can put on our currency instead.
Apparently Canada is keeping the Queen on their currency — “There is no legislative requirement to change the design within a prescribed period when the Monarch changes,” stated Paul Badertscher, spokesman for the Bank of Canada.
I read somewhere that it cost us millions (cant recall the exact number) just to change our constitution to read King instead of queen. Why in the world is the crown not paying for that?? We need to learn from the Caribbean and gtfo
I am Scottish and would prefer Scotland become Independent of the UK. Agree monarchy is a waste of taxpayer monies, outdated, and in many ways corrupt. Down With The Crown!
So maybe the whole push Harry and his bi-racial wife out is a ploy for support from racists in Australia and Canada? Hadn’t really seen that before, but if his goal is keeping Canada and Australia, building right wing royalist support is key. Look at the UK and Brexit. The racist support for Brexit and non stop racist abuse the tabloids pushed at Meghan was surely coordinated. I always just thought that was Murdoch and his ilk, but did the BRF agree to it at some level?
I get what you’re saying but time and time again the whole royal gang has exposed themselves as shortsighted petty people. Basically, they’re too stupid to be that cunning.
For the Canadian government, it’s not about keeping the monarchy–it’s the changes that would have to be made to Indigenous documentation over land and self-governing rights if Canadians chose to remove themselves from the commonwealth. Doing so would reopen multiple deep wounds between peoples and border debates between the provinces and territories. That’s a really simplified version. To say it would open multiple issues and reignite old arguments is an understatement. Frankly, it would be a mess.
Reconciliation needs to be done and if this is the way then I’m here for it. We both know our gov doesn’t have the balls to do it
Would love it if Canada removed the monarchy from the currency. It is beyond time.
it’s happening with the bills. hopefully there will be a soft exit. unfortunately the parliamentary manoeuvres that have to take place to get out of the Commonwealth are beyond the reach of today’s Assembly.
The polymer bills and coins with the Queen on them will be around for a long time. It would be far too expensive to take them out of circulation and replace them.
The Mint has released a statement on their website :
“We are working on a plan to issue a variety of coins commemorating Queen Elizabeth II’s lifetime of service as Queen of Canada. The Mint will also support the Government of Canada as it works to determine a new obverse (heads) design for future Canadian coins.”
It isn’t a done deal yet that it will be Charles. Contact your MP or the Dept of Finance.
I don’t think there’s any appetite for “King Charles” period. He’s about as compelling as a root canal.
Agreed, I would happily not see him on the money, stamps and the rest here in England.
I can’t wait for the Clowning to be over, we don’t need three bank holidays in one month! I work freelance but fortunately a lot of my clients are international so I don’t have to take a hit because of this nonsense.
Agreed, and this is getting more ridiculous by the moment.
“Governor Antoine said, regardless of the decision made by the Monetary Council, it would be years before any change is made about a new banknote design.”
Is this seriously how the “commonwealth” countries want to proceed, as their overlords taught them?
Hi, we just all lived through Covid, please do not peep a word about how hard it would be to take a face off a printing plate to make money. This is how the Commonwealth became a thing. Apathy. The entire planet is better than this.
When I was checking this after Australia announced the change to their bank note only England had made any commitment to having Charles on a bank note. Canada and New Zealand basically said the same as the Eastern Caribbean.
Looks like my #BoycottTheCoronation idea is catching on. Go Shetland Isles! I love your ponies and sheepdogs even more now. ❤️
Didn’t William come up with a coin for himself already? Like, jumping the gun on having your face on shit. Anyway, no one wants any of these ugly mugs’ ugly mugs on their money or dinnerware. Spare us your receding hairlines, criss-cross teefs and jowls for days.
As a Canadian, my first reaction when I heard QEII had died back in September was, “Yuck, will we have to see Charles’ ugly mug on our money now?” Hopefully Charles will lose his focus on “keeping” Canada (seriously, f*ck off with that, BRF), though I understand the various legal and practical reasons why it would be extremely difficult for Canada to extricate itself from the British monarchy.
Canadian lawyer here. Our governmental and legal system have evolved from the British system and, while we share some ties, our systems operate quite independently. Monarch’s representatives are figureheads (1 federal governor general, lieutenant generals for each province) and have a ceremonial function only. There are far too many reports on obnoxious amounts of spending by these folks, although some have worked hard to use their position for good. Operationally, we do not need them and it would not be difficult to adapt the system to eliminate them.
Changing the consititition is the tricky part because it requires such a high degree of consensus. But it’s possible.
I for one am ready to see it happen. In the past I have appreciated the historical connection of our courts and legal system to the old British tradition. We don’t have a lot of ancient history here otherwise – not in the traditional western sense. However, I’ve come to realize how exclusionary this system has been and continues to be, and how many Canadians it fails to serve. We need is a system focussed on justice for all Canadians more than we need to preserve tradition. We have failed to provide justice for the indigenous people who were here before us and have used this system to oppress them.
My 2 cents. Also I would be pleased to do away with the monarchy on our currency.