Originally published in NOW Grenada, The New Today and The Grenadian Voice on 22. May, 2024.
The recent launch of the Citizens for Constitutional Reform organisation, headed by prominent republican Dr. Francis Alexis, raises again the salience of the issue of our Oath of Allegiance. Again unfortunately, as was the case ahead of our Golden Jubilee celebrations earlier this year, Dr. Alexis and his new CCR are peddling direct falsehoods and misinformation about the nature of our constitutional arrangements and the oath.
The CCR, at its founding ceremony, declared its first priority to be to “change [the oath of] allegiance from the UK monarch” to Grenada. This very statement by Dr. Alexis is a misleading lie. This is an issue we have already addressed in our article “Misinformation about our Head of State and Oath of Allegiance must stop”, published in this newspaper on 22 February, but which it seems must unfortunately be addressed again.
The oath of allegiance as it currently stands is not, and has not been since independence in 1974, to the British monarch. The oath of allegiance sworn by the Governor-General, Prime Minister, ministers and members of parliament is an oath to the Grenadian monarch. An oath to the King of Grenada – the living embodiment of the Grenadian state.
Under the constitutional principle of the Divisibility of the Crown, established by the Statute of Westminster of 1931, the Crown is a divisible entity. The Crown in each Commonwealth Realm is a separate, distinct and independent construct. This means that upon independence on 7 February 1974 the British monarchy ceased to have any influence, power or authority in Grenada. Instead a wholly new and separate legal entity, the Grenadian monarchy, was born and took its place. It is this entity which functions as our head of state, and to which oaths are taken.
King Charles III is King of Grenada, entirely separately from his role as King of the United Kingdom. Likewise was his mother, Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. In all Grenadian matters the King is exclusively King of Grenada – he may take advice only from Grenadian ministers, must follow Grenadian law and operate under the Grenadian constitution. King Charles III of Grenada is in fact an entirely distinct and separate legal person from King Charles III of the United Kingdom. He is a Grenadian citizen and operates exclusively as Grenadian head of state, irrespective of any role or position in the UK.
This is made eminently clear by that fact that all official acts related to Grenada refers only to “Charles III, By the Grace of God, King of Grenada and of His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth”, without any mention of the United Kingdom. It was under this title the King was proclaimed our head of state by Governor-General Dame Cécile La Grenade on 12 September 2022. That proclamation was signed by Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell.
As such, to say the oath of allegiance is to the British monarch is as erroneous as saying the oath is to the Australian monarch or to the Jamaican monarch. The oath, when taken in a Grenadian jurisdiction and under the Grenadian constitution, is one exclusively to the King of Grenada, not the King of Great Britain.
Thus, not only is the rationale behind the proposed change – that the oath is being sworn to a foreign monarch – completely wrong, the proposed change of the oath to being to “Grenada” is entirely superfluous as the oath is already at present to our country. How could this be? The answer to that is simple: the King is the legal embodiment and personification of the Grenadian state.
The King, as sovereign and head of state, is constitutionally considered to be the living, breathing representation of the state. The state is the king and the king is the state. This is for instance why land owned by the government is referred to as Crown Lands, because the King – the Crown – is the state.
As such when our representatives swear allegiance to the King they are, per definition, swearing allegiance to Grenada, because constitutionally the King and Grenada are one and the same. He represents and embodies the permanence and continuity of our state structures. He personifies and concentrates the abstract idea of statehood and sovereignty in a tangible, living form.
This of course raises the question why Dr. Alexis and the other eminent members of the CCR – most of them prominent lawyers – are spreading such obvious and open falsehoods and misinformation. Why are they, who certainly should know better, actively misinforming the public about the nature of Grenada’s constitutional arrangements. Why are they attempting to subvert and change the structures which form the bedrock of our constitution, which has served our country well for 50 years, when they know their own arguments for it are based on falsehood and lies.
Grenada is a monarchical country – the Caribs were monarchical long before the island was claimed in the name of France’s King Louis XIV in 1649. Our African ancestors were from the numerous monarchical societies in West Africa. Our country, since it’s inception as a colony and through 50 years of independent statehood, has always been a monarchy. Even while under a communist regime Grenada, uniquely in the world, retained our monarchical system of government.
The uprooting of the oath of allegiance to the King of Grenada would be entirely superfluous, a-historic, and based entirely on nonsensical arguments which even a cursory analysis of shows do not hold water. The oath of allegiance as it currently stands is already to Grenada. It is to our Grenadian King, who represents and embodies in his person our Grenadian state. It is not an oath to a foreign monarch, and the continued insistence by persons such as Dr. Alexis and the CCR to keep pushing this wholly false narrative is extremely concerning.
The Grenada Monarchist League firmly condemn the CCR’s spreading of falsehoods. We encourage the government to disregard the legislation presented to them by this organisation, and implore the government not to undertake any such superfluous, nonsensical changes. We may further remind the government that in 2016 these very same proposed changes were overwhelmingly rejected by the people in a democratic referendum. Attempting to ram through these changes, in direct contravention of the people’s stated wishes, as the CCR proposes, would be entirely contrary to the spirit of our constitution and the principles of democratic and representative government. We implore the Prime Minister and the government, who were elected on a platform of a transformational agenda, to not revert to previous attitudes of ignoring and overriding the will of the people.
Grenada Monarchist League 