Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

was Queen of Ghana from 1957 to 1960, when

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and Tog ...

was an independent

sovereign state A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...

and a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. She was also queen of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

and other sovereign states. Her constitutional roles in Ghana were delegated to the governor-general of Ghana.

History

The National Archives UK - CO 1069-43 03 003

Ghana was the first western African country to achieve independence from European colonization. British rule ended in 1957, when the

Ghana Independence Act 1957 The Ghana Independence Act 1957 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted the Gold Coast fully responsible government within the British Commonwealth of Nations under the name of Ghana. The Act received the Royal Assent on ...

transformed the British Crown Colony of the Gold Coast into the independent

of Ghana, with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state on 6 March 1957.

Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent (27 August 1968), born Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark ( el, Μαρίνα), was a Greek princess by birth and a British princess by marriage. She was a daughter of Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark a ...

represented the Queen at the independence celebrations. On 6 March, the Princess formally opened the first parliament of independent Ghana, on behalf of the Queen, by giving the

Speech from the Throne A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a session is opened, outlining t ...

Constitutional role

Ghana was one of the

realms A realm is a community or territory over which a sovereign rules. The term is commonly used to describe a monarchical or dynastic state. A realm may also be a subdivision within an empire, if it has its own monarch, e.g. the German Empire. Ety ...

of the

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...

that shared the same person as

Sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

and head of state. Effective with the

, no British government minister could advise the sovereign on any matters pertaining to Ghana, meaning that on all matters of the Ghana, the monarch was advised solely by Ghanaian ministers of the Crown. The Queen was represented in Ghana by the Governor-General of Ghana, who was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Ghanaian government. Two governors-general held office:

Charles Noble Arden-Clarke Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke (25 July 1898 – 16 December 1962) was a British colonial administrator. Biography Arden-Clarke was educated at Rossall School. He was the Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (later Botswan ...

(1957), and

William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel William Francis Hare, 5th Earl of Listowel, (28 September 1906 – 12 March 1997), styled Viscount Ennismore between 1924 and 1931, was an Anglo-Irish peer and Labour politician. He was the last Secretary of State for India as well as the las ...

(1957–1960).

The Crown and Government

The Queen and the National Assembly of Ghana constituted the Parliament of Ghana. All executive powers of Ghana rested with the sovereign. All laws in Ghana were enacted only with the granting of

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

, done by the Governor-General on behalf of the sovereign. Every Ghanaian Bill presented to the Governor-General, had the following words of enactment: The Governor-General was also responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving Parliament. All Ghanaian ministers of the Crown held office at the pleasure of the Governor-General.

The Crown and Honours

Within the Commonwealth realms, the monarch is the "fount of honour". Similarly, the monarch, as Sovereign of Ghana, conferred awards and honours in Ghana her name. Most of them were awarded on the advice of "Her Majesty's Ghana Ministers". ;See also:

Title

The Royal Style and Titles Act, 1957 of the Parliament of Ghana granted the monarch a separate Ghanaian title in her role as Queen of Ghana. Queen Elizabeth II had the following styles in her role as the monarch of Ghana: *6 March 1957 – 27 July 1957: 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 *27 July 1957 – 1 July 1960: Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Ghana and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth

Oath of allegiance

The oath of allegiance in Ghana was:

Abolition

After the 1960 Ghanaian constitutional referendum, Ghana adopted a new constitution that replaced the monarch and governor-general with a

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. Ghana became a

republic within the Commonwealth A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. The Queen sent a message to Ghanaians which said: "From midnight I shall cease to be your Queen. ... I am proud that I am Head of a Commonwealth in which every nation may choose for itself the form of Government which best suits it; now that Ghana has chosen for itself a republican form of constitution, it will not affect the interest which I have always taken and shall continue to take in the welfare of its people".

Royal visits

The Queen said in her Christmas broadcast in 1958, that she and her husband would be visiting Ghana in late 1959. To celebrate the upcoming visit, the Ghanaian Government commissioned a new £2 coin with a new effigy of the Queen and the inscription "Queen of Ghana". However, the coin was never struck since the visit was postponed, as she had become pregnant in 1959. In November 1959, Prince Philip paid a six-day visit to Ghana. During the visit, he inaugurated the Ghana Academy of Learning (now the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences), and was appointed its first president. He also met members of the Accra Market Women Traders' Association at the Governor-General's Lodge in Accra, who presented him with a gold tie-pin. Queen Elizabeth II visited the Republic of Ghana from 9 to 20 November 1961 and from 7 to 9 November 1999. During her 1961 tour, the Queen famously danced with Ghana's president

Kwame Nkrumah Kwame Nkrumah (born 21 September 190927 April 1972) was a Ghanaian politician, political theorist, and revolutionary. He was the first Prime Minister and President of Ghana, having led the Gold Coast to independence from Britain in 1957. An ...

at a farewell ball in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, which many scholars believe was a symbolic moment in the history of

the Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territorial evolution of the British Empire ...

. Despite bombings in the capital and fears that Ghana was getting too close to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, the Queen insisted on this tour to make sure that Ghana did not leave the Commonwealth. A dramatised version of this visit was portrayed in the episode "Dear Mrs Kennedy" in the second season of the Netflix series ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has differ ...

''.

Gallery

File:Ghana Stamp 2.jpg File:Ghana Stamp 3.jpg File:Ghana Stamp 4.jpg File:Ghana Stamp 1.jpg File:Ghana Stamp 5.jpg File:Ghana Stamp 6.jpg

References

{{Elizabeth II, state=collapsed Ghanaian monarchy Government of Ghana Politics of Ghana

Heads of state of Ghana 1957 establishments in Ghana 1960 disestablishments in Ghana

Former monarchies of Africa Political history of Ghana Titles held only by one person