Bahamas PM Philip Davis signals referendum to remove King Charles as head of state

Philip Davis, who has been PM since 2021, said the decision on the country's involvement with the British monarchy was a matter for the Bahamian public to decide upon.

It comes after the royal jubilee tour of the Caribean, led by couples Prince William and Princess Kate and Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

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The trip in March was met with furious protests and calls for slavery repatriation. 

Speaking after he signed a book of condolence in the Bahamian Senate following the death of Queen Elizabeth, David confirmed a public vote was on the table. 

He told reporters: “For me, it always is but again it is our people who will have to decide."

“The only challenge with us moving to a republic is that I can’t, as much as I would wish to do it, I cannot do it without your consent,” he continued.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge pose for a picture with the Prime Minister of the Bahamas Philip Brave Davis and his wife Ann-Marie Davis ahead of a private meeting at his office in Nassau, Bahamas, on day six of the royal tour of the Caribbean on behalf of the Queen to mark her Platinum Jubilee. (Image: PA)

“I will have to have a referendum and the Bahamian people will have to say to me, ‘yes’.”

The Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC) slammed the "extravagant" eight-day excursion by the Royals across Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas earlier this year. 

They said: “We recognise that the people of the Bahamas have been left holding the bag for much of the cost of this extravagant trip.

“Why are we footing the bill for the benefit of a regime whose rise to ‘greatness’ was fuelled by the extinction, enslavement, colonisation, and degradation of the people of this land? Why are we being made to pay again?

“Once William and Kate have passed over the newly paved roads, driven by the freshly painted walls, and waved to the schoolchildren who have been pulled out of their classes to stand and watch them go by, what will the Bahamian people be left with?”

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The Bahamas gained its political independence from Britain in July 1973, but the debate around whether or not the country should ditch the monarchy has gathered pace in the wake of the Queen's death. 

Jah Mickey Bowe, vice chair of the House of Rastafari in the Bahamas, told the Independent: “We, in the Bahamas, have seen very few examples of how the monarchy benefits our country in any aspect.

“We don’t see how the celebration of our oppressors helps us any; the royal family should apologise for slavery and bring reparations to all of the Commonwealth countries.,

“King Charles III will meet more of those demands on his desk in the near future.”