Until the mid 60's, every British colony that was granted independence from the United Kingdom became a "Commonwealth Realm" monarchy by default. Queen Elizabeth II was recognized as the newly independent nation's Head of State and sovereign monarch with a distinct title (ie; "Queen of Pakistan").
Although the British government retained no authority over nations in which Queen Elizabeth was monarch, many locals in these new nations found the continuing presence of the British monarchy in their system of government to be an unnecessary holdover of colonial rule.
From 1956 to 1992 Queen Elizabeth was stripped of numerous titles as more than a dozen nations changed their constitutions to become republics. Rather than force more nations to go through this hassle in the future, from the late 60's onward all British colonies that were granted independence became republics by default, rather than constitutional monarchies under the British Queen.
There are a total of 17 former realms that are now republics:
|
Became
indepenent
|
Time
as Commonwealth Realm
|
Governor
Generals |
Monarchy
abolished
|
First
President
|
|
| Ireland | 1922 | 15 years, 3 d. |
3
|
December 29, 1937 | Newly appointed |
| India | 1947 | 2 years, 5 months, 11 d. |
2
|
January 26, 1950 | Newly appointed |
| Pakistan | 1947 | 8 years, 7 months, 8 d. |
4
|
March 23, 1956 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Ghana | 1957 | 3 yeas, 3 months, 26 d. |
2
|
July 1, 1960 | Newly appointed |
| South Africa | 1910 | 51 years |
12
|
May 31, 1961 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Tanzania | 1961 | 1 year |
1
|
December 9, 1962 | Incumbent Prime Minister |
| Nigeria | 1960 | 3 years |
2
|
October 1, 1963 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Uganda | 1962 | 1 year |
1
|
October 9, 1963 | Newly appointed |
| Kenya | 1963 | 1 year |
1
|
December 12, 1964 | Incumbent Prime Minister |
| Malawi | 1964 | 2 years |
1
|
July 6,1966 | Incumbent Prime Minister |
| Guyana | 1966 | 3 years, 8 months, 24 d. |
3
|
February 22, 1970 | Incumbent Governor General |
| The Gambia | 1965 | 5 years, 2 months, 6 d. |
2
|
April 24, 1970 | Incumbent Prime Minister |
| Sierra Leone | 1961 | 9 years, 11 months, 22 d. |
5
|
April 19, 1971 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Sri Lanka | 1948 | 24 Years, 3 months, 18 d. |
4
|
May 22, 1972 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Malta | 1964 | 10 years, 2 months, 23 d. |
2
|
December 27, 1976 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Trinidad &Tobago | 1962 | 13 years, 11 months, 1 d. |
7
|
August 1, 1976 | Incumbent Governor General |
| Fiji | 1970 | 16 years, 11 months, 27 d. |
3
|
October 7,1987 | Newly appointed |
| Mauritius | 1968 | 24 years |
7
|
March 12, 1992 | Incumbent Governor General |
Referendums:
Before they broke with the monarchy, several nations held national referendums on whether or not their citizens supported the adoption of a republican constitution.
|
Date
of referendum
|
Yes
vote
|
|
| Ireland | July 1, 1937 |
56.5%
|
| The Gambia | November, 1965 |
62.3%
|
| Ghana | April 17 - 30, 1960 |
88.47%
|
| South Africa | October 5, 1960 |
52.3%
|
| Australia | November 6, 1999 |
45.13%
|
Australian voters rejected adopting a republic in 1999. As such they are technically the only Commonwealth Realm to have democratically chosen their status as a monarchy.
The Survivors:
Today 15 countries remain Commonwealth Realm monarchies under the British Queen. Prior to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II they were known as "Dominions" of the Crown.
|
Time
as Commonwealth Realm
|
Became
dominion / realm
|
Population
(appx)
|
|
| Canada | 138+ years | July 1, 1867 |
33,000,000
|
| Australia | 104+ years | January 1,1901 |
20,000,000
|
| New Zealand | 98+ years | September 26, 1907 |
4,000,000
|
| Jamaica | 43+ years | August 6, 1962 |
2,700,000
|
| Barbados | 39+ years | November 29, 1966 |
280,000
|
| The Bahamas | 32+ years | July 10, 1973 |
300,000
|
| Grenada | 33+ years | February 7, 1974 |
89,000
|
| Papua New Guinea | 30+ years | September 16, 1975 |
5,700,000
|
| Solomon Islands | 27+ years | July 7, 1978 |
550,000
|
| Tuvalu | 27+ years | October 1, 1978 |
11,000
|
| St. Luca | 26+ years | February 22, 1979 |
17,000
|
| St. Vincent & The Grenadines | 26+ years | October 27, 1979 |
12,000
|
| Antigua & Barbuda | 24+ years | November 1, 1981 |
69,000
|
| Belize | 24+ years | September 21, 1981 |
290,000
|
| St. Kitts & Nevis | 22+ years | September 13, 1983 |
39,000
|
Summary
Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and
South Africa were the first Commonwealth Realms, and remained realms for the
longest period of time. Jamaica will have to stay under the Queen for at least
another seven years to beat South Africa, and I don't think that's very likely.
Here are Queen Elizabeth's four longest-held titles, and thus the four nations
she should devote most of her Queenly energy towards:
| Queen of Canada | 53+ years |
| Queen of Australia | |
| Queen of New Zealand | |
| Queen of Jamaica | 43+ years |
| Queen of Barbados | 39+ years |