Elizabeth II was Queen of Malawi from 1964 to 1966, when Malawi was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations. She was also the sovereign of the other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. The 1964 Constitution of Malawi vested executive power in the monarch as head of state, though her constitutional roles were delegated to her representative, the Governor-General, Sir Glyn Smallwood Jones, who was also the last Governor of Nyasaland.[1]
| Queen of Malawi | |
|---|---|
 | |
_(cropped)_(3-to-4_aspect_ratio).jpg) | |
| Details | |
| Style | Her Majesty |
| Formation | 6 July 1964 |
| Abolition | 6 July 1966 |
History
editMalawi was granted independence by the Parliament of the United Kingdom's Malawi Independence Act 1964, which transformed the Protectorate of Nyasaland into an independent sovereign state called Malawi. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh represented the Queen at the independence celebrations in July 1964. On 7 July, the Duke read the Speech from the Throne at parliament, on behalf of the Queen, in which it was stressed that Malawi would not seek "to impose its ideology on others, nor will it accept the imposition of other ideologies upon itself".[2]
The roles of the monarch and the governor-general in Malawi were abolished on 6 July 1966, when Malawi became a republic within the Commonwealth, with the president of Malawi as executive head of state and head of government. Hastings Banda, the former Prime Minister of Malawi declared himself the first President of the republic.
Queen Elizabeth II visited Malawi from 22 to 25 July 1979.[3] The Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre was opened in 1958[4] and is the largest hospital in Malawi.[5]
Styles
editQueen Elizabeth II had the following styles in her role as the monarch of Malawi:
- 6 July 1964 – 1964: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith[6][7]
- 1964 – 6 July 1966: Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God Queen of Malawi and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth[8][9]
Gallery
edit- Queen Elizabeth II on stamps of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, before she became Queen of Malawi
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References
edit- ^ Roberts, Simon (Autumn 1964). "The Constitution of Malawi, 1964". Journal of African Law. 8 (3): 178–184. doi:10.1017/S0021855300007282. S2CID 146243133.
- ^ "Malawi Parliament Opened With Message From Queen". The New York Times. 8 July 1964.
- ^ "Commonwealth visits since 1952". Official website of the British monarchy. Royal Household. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ^ McCracken, John (2012). A History of Malawi, 1859–1966. Boydell & Brewer. p. 261. ISBN 978-1-84701-050-6.
- ^ "The Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi". The Europe - Africa Research Network for Evaluation of Second-line Therapy (EARNEST). Retrieved 8 November 2015.
- ^ "No. 39873". The London Gazette (Supplement). 26 May 1953. p. 3023.
- ^ "Malawi: Heads of State: 1964-1966". archontology.org. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ "Malawi: Heads of State: 1964-1966". archontology.org. Retrieved 22 May 2021.
- ^ The Statesman's Year-Book 1965-66: The One-Volume ENCYCLOPAEDIA of All Nations, Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016, p. 54, ISBN 9780230270947
Further reading
edit- Colin Baker (2000). Sir Glyn Jones: A Proconsul in Africa. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-461-9.
- Francis Chuma (1 December 2010). "Malawi: a monarchy in the making?". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 November 2015.