(CNN) — Antigua and Barbuda’s prime minister said the Caribbean country will hold a referendum to become a republic and remove King Charles III as head of state in the coming years.
The former British colony gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1981, but it is one of 14 countries apart from the United Kingdom where the British monarch is head of state. It is also part of the Commonwealth, an organization of 56 members from most of the former British territories.
After confirming King Charles III as King of Antigua and Barbuda on Saturday, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told ITV News that he planned to hold a referendum on whether the country becomes a republic in the next three years.
“This is an issue that has to be put to a referendum for the people to decide,” he said. He added that it is not intended to “represent any form of disrespect to the monarch. This is not an act of hostility, or any difference between Antigua and Barbuda and the monarchy.”
Prime Minister Gaston Browne explained that the referendum would be a final step in becoming a truly sovereign nation.
He explained that it would be “one last step to complete the circle of independence to become a truly sovereign nation.”
Questions about the monarchy’s continued role in the region were raised in March after the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, visited three Commonwealth kingdoms — Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas — on a trip meant to celebrate 70 years on the throne of Queen Elizabeth.
The trip was fraught with problems and they were told by the Jamaican Prime Minister that the country was “moving forward” and would achieve its “true ambition” of being “independent”.
Last year, Barbados severed its final imperial ties with Britain by declaring itself a republic.
Barbados’ decision marked the first time in nearly three decades that a kingdom had chosen to remove the British monarch as head of state. The last nation to do so was the island of Mauritius in 1992. Like that country, Barbados remains part of the Commonwealth.
CNN’s Lauren Said-Moorhouse contributed to this report.