Will the end of monarchy in Barbados spark a chain reaction?

As of this week, the Queen is down to 15 thrones, after the royal standard was lowered in Barbados in the early hours of Tuesday morning. A presidential flag now flies there. Elizabeth II still remains, by some margin, the host with the most in terms of square miles per head of state. Presidents Xi, Biden and Putin do not come close to the Queen of Canada, Australia and Papua New Guinea plus a chunk of Antarctica, little old Britain and all the rest of her realms and territories. Depending on how much ocean you include, she remains Sovereign of somewhere between an eighth and a sixth of the Earth’s surface.

So, at 167 square miles, Barbados may have been a mere blip in the portfolio. This is a significant moment, though, all the same. For it raises a question which is being pondered by royalists and republicans alike: where next?

The Left and the culture warriors have been rubbing their hands all week, gleefully pointing to Barbados as a bold standard-bearer which has thrown off the shackles of imperialism.