6 February George VII dies, Elizabeth II ascends to the throne
“Beginning with her first prime minister Winston Churchill, the queen’s ministers not only knew of systematic British-directed violence in the empire, they also participated in its crafting, diffusion, and cover-up, which was as routinized as the violence itself. They repeatedly lied to Parliament and the media and, when decolonisation was imminent, ordered the widespread removal and burning of incriminating evidence.”
Elizabeth is in Kenya when her father dies. Contrary to some reports, it is likely that she was not up a tree but, in a lodge, when she is informed of his death. There are some romantic reports that she climbed a tree as a Princess and came down the tree as a queen.
Four years before Elizabeth II’s accession, the Malayan National Liberation Army (MNLA) began to fight against occupying British forces as they sought independence from British rule. The fighting continued for 12 years, ending in 1960. The British attempted to suppress the MNLA, “the British military set fire to homes and farmland belonging to those suspected of having ties to the MNLA, relocated an estimated 400,000 to one million people into concentration camps called “new villages,” and sprayed crops with Agent Orange to starve insurgents.” During the 12-year uprising, almost 10,000 Malayans lost their lives. (Malaya is now known as Malaysia).
The Morning Star newspaper describes actions taken by the British to quell the fight for independence by the Malayan people. These actions included:
“locking up all 500,000 of Malaya’s ethnic Chinese population in concentration camps called “New Villages,” burning farmland to starve rural areas of food, executing entire villages of people in incidents such as the infamous Batang Kali massacre and instituting a policy of terror against the Malayan population. At the height of the terror, the British would photograph executed independence fighters, place photographs of their mangled corpses onto millions of leaflets and drop these leaflets out of airplanes.”
In Kenya, the Mau Mau were the group fighting the British for freedom from colonial rule. The Mau Mau Rebellion lasted for a decade from 1952 until 1962, with Kenya gaining independence a year later.
To suppress the Rebellion, the British forced over a 100,000 Kenyans into camps where they were tortured, maimed, sexually abused and killed.
“According to the Kenya Human Rights Commission, 90,000 Kenyans were killed, tortured or maimed during the conflict, and 160,000 were held in inhumane prison camps.”
23 December–30 January: State visit to New Zealand
1954
3 February–1 April: State visit to Australia
5 April: State visit to Cocos Islands
10–21 April: State visit to Ceylon
27 April: State visit to Aden
28–30 April: State visit to Uganda
3–7 May: State visit to Malta
10 May: State visit to Gibraltar
1956
28 January – 16 February: State visit to Nigeria
1957
6 March: Ghana becomes the first colonised nation populated by People of African origin to achieve independence from British colonial rule.
“As Britain’s ruling classes scrambled to control the narrative of the loss of imperial power, they produced the myth of decolonisation as a managed and planned process. Elizabeth II’s involvement was central to this myth and also in mediating between opposing groups like African nationalists and white settlers.”
British prime minister Harold Macmillan addresses the Union of South Africa about the uprisings in British colonies demanding independence from the British Empire. He refers to these rightful demands as “the winds of change”.
1 October: Nigeria independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1961
21 January – 1 February: State visit to India
16–26 February: State visit to India
1–2 March: State visit to India
1–16 February: State visit to Pakistan
27 April: Sierra Leone independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
9–20 November: State visit to Ghana
25 November – 1 December: State visit to Sierra Leone
3–5 December: State Visit to Gambia
9 December: Tanganyika independence; on 26 April 1964, Tanganyika merged with Zanzibar to form Tanzania
1962
6 August: Jamaica attains independence from the British Empire; UK monarch retained as Head of State
31 August: Trinidad and Tobago acquire independence from the British Empire. Retains UK monarch as Head of State until 1 August 1976
9 October: Uganda independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1963
30 January – 1 February: State visit to Canada
2–3 February: State visit to Fiji
6–18 February: State visit to New Zealand
18 February – 27 March: State visit to Australia
December 12: Kenya becomes independent from British rule
On leaving, the British burn 1000’s of documents detailing the atrocities committed against Kenyans
under colonial rule, while the nation was a British colony. UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State.
1964
6 July: Malawi independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
5–13 October: State visit to Canada
Zambia independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1965
18 February: Gambia independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
“British officials secretly deployed…propaganda in the 1960s to incite prominent Indonesians to “cut out” the “communist cancer”.
It is estimated that at least 500,000 people linked to the Indonesia communist party (PKI) were eliminated between 1965 and 1966.”
The exact number killed as a result of the British disinformation campaign inciting murder of supporters of communism is unknown but is believed to be up to 3 million.
The Biafran-Nigerian War took place during this time. An area of eastern Nigeria (Biafra) seceded from the Republic of Nigeria in May of 1967. The Republic created blockades which prevented food and supplies getting through to Biafra. Populated mainly by the Igbo community, Biafra had declared itself a republic following the actions of the governing body in the (then) capital of Nigeria, Lagos. The UK supplied arms to the Federal Military Government of Nigeria, who were fighting against the Biafrans.
“British policy was mainly shaped by its oil interests, declassified government documents from the time show. “Our direct interests are trade and investment, including an important stake by Shell/BP in the eastern region,” the Foreign Office noted a few days before the outbreak of the war in 1967.”
The war is estimated to have caused the death of over half a million Igbo children, 2.5 million Igbo adults and the displacement of 3 million refugees.
6 September: Swaziland independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1970
2–3 March: State visit to Canada
4–5 March: State visits to Fiji
7 March: State visit to Tonga
12–30 March: State visit to New Zealand
30 March – 3 May: State visit to Australia
5–15 July: State visit to Canada
3–12 May: State visit to Canada
1973
10 March: British Governor Richard Sharples assassinated by a Black Beret Cadre in Bermuda.
Bermuda remains a British Overseas Territory (colony) at the time of writing
25 June – 5 July: State visit to Canada
10 July: Bahamas independence; UK monarch retained as Head of State
31 July – 4 August: State visit to Canada
16–17 October: State visit to Fiji
17–22 October: State visit to Australia
1974
28–29 January: State visit to the Cook Islands
7 February: Grenada independence; UK monarch retained as Head of State
30 January – 8 February: New Zealand
11 February: Norfolk Island
15–16 February: New Hebrides
18–21 February: Solomon Islands
22–27 February: Papua New Guinea
27–28 February: Australia
1975
16–18 February: Bermuda
18–20 February: Barbados
20–21 February: Bahamas
26–30 April: Jamaica
4–7 May: Hong Kong
1976
13–25 July: Canada
1977
10–11 February: Western Samoa
14 February: Tonga
16-17 February: Fiji
22 February – 7 March: New Zealand
7–23 March: Australia
23–26 March: Papua New Guinea
26–30 March: Australia
14–19 October: Canada
19–20 October: Bahamas
26 October: British Virgin Islands
28 October: Antigua and Barbuda
31 October – 2 November: Barbados
1978
26 July – 6 August: Canada
3 November: Dominica independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1979
19–22 July: Tanzania
22–25 July: Malawi
25–27 July: Botswana
27 July – 4 August: Zambia
27 October: St Vincent and the Grenadine (SVG) independence; UK monarch retained as Head of State
1980
24–28 May: Australia
1981
26 September – 12 October: Australia
12–20 October: New Zealand
20–21 October: Australia
21–25 October: Sri Lanka
1 November: Antigua and Barbuda independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1982
15–18 April: Canada
5–13 October: Australia
13–14 October: Papua New Guinea
18 October: Solomon Islands
21 October: Nauru
23 October: Kiribati
26-27 October: Tuvalu
30 October – 1 November: Fiji
1983
13 February: Bermuda
13-16 February: Jamaica
16-17 February: Cayman Islands
8–11 March: Canada
9–10 November: Cyprus
10–14 November: Kenya
14-17 November: Bangladesh
17-26 November: India
1984
25–26 March: Cyprus
24 September – 7 October: Canada
1985
9–11 October: Belize
11–18 October: Bahamas
23 October: Saint Kitts and Nevis
24 October: Antigua and Barbuda
25 October: Dominica
26 October: Saint Lucia
27 October: Saint Vincent and The Grenadines
28–29 October: Barbados
31 October: Grenada
1-3 November: Trinidad and Tobago
1986
22 February – 2 March: New Zealand
2–13 March: Australia
21–23 October: Hong Kong
1987
9–24 October: Canada
1988
19 April – 10 May: Australia
1989
8–11 March: Barbados
9–11 October: Singapore
14–17 October: Malaysia
1990
1–16 February: New Zealand
27 June – 1 July: Canada
1991
7 October: Kenya
8-10 October: Namibia
10-15 October: Zimbabwe
1992
18–25 February: Australia
28–30 May: Malta
30 June – 2 July: Canada
1993
18–24 October: Cyprus
1994
18 February: Cayman Islands
19 February: Dominica
19–22 February: Guyana
22–24 February: Belize
26–27 February: Cayman Islands
1–3 March: Jamaica
6–8 March: Bahamas
8–10 March: Bermuda
13–22 August: Canada
1995
19-25 March: South Africa
30 October-11 November: New Zealand
13 November: Cameroon independence; UK monarch NOT retained as Head of State
1997
30 June – 2 July: Canada
6-12 October: Pakistan
12-18 October: India
1998
17–20 September: Brunei
20–23 September: Malaysia
1999
7–9 November: Ghana
9–15 November: South Africa
15 November: Mozambique
2000
17 March – 1 April: Australia
2002
18–20 February: Jamaica
22–27 February: New Zealand
27 February – 3 March: Australia
4-15 October: Canada
2003
3–6 December: Nigeria
2005
17–25 May: Canada
23–26 November: Malta
2006
11–16 March: Australia
16–18 March: Singapore
2007
20 November: Malta
21–24 November: Uganda
2009
24–26 November: Bermuda
26–28 November: Trinidad & Tobago
2010
28 June – 6 July: Canada
19–29 October: Australia
26–28 November: Malta
2011
24 February: Report by Anthony Cary re British Colonial Administration papers published. It confirms that the British government were in possession of the papers requested by Kenya in 1967, and proceeded to deny their existence/refuse to hand them over.
6 April: Kenyans detained in British concentration camps and subjected to torture take their case to the High Court in London, England. Seeking acknowledgement of the ordeal suffered at the hands of the British colonial army during the Mau Mau uprising in 1952, the Kenyans also seek compensation.
2013
6 June: The British Government admitted to the torture carried out in the Kenyan detention camps during British attempts to suppress the Mau Mau Rebellion. 5,228 Kenyans who were tortured and abused during the insurrection. Each would receive about £3,800. “The British government recognises that Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration,” Foreign Secretary Hague said, reading from a statement in Parliament. Britain “sincerely regrets that these abuses took place.”
3 October: Gambia withdraws from the Commonwealth:
“The government has withdrawn its membership of the British Commonwealth and decided that the Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism”
“In fact, the queen was the guardian of Britain’s imperial past and curator of its present and future. Like her predecessors, she self-consciously wrapped herself in the empire, deploying images and symbols, as well as the language of fictive kinship, to project claims to British benevolence and exceptionalism. In so doing, she detracted from all that was being carried out in her name while beckoning her colonial subjects to revere her.”
This Bull authorised Portugal to raid African Kingdoms, territories and land, capture and enslave the inhabitants and seize their natural and mineral resources, under the authority of the Pope and the Catholic Church.
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