Kingstown St. Vincent May ,11,2026-Opposition leader Dr Ralph Gonsalves has moved to clarify that University of the West Indies (UWI) Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Hilary Beckles does not hold a British knighthood, but instead a national honour awarded by Barbados.
Speaking on the Star Radio Good Morning Comrade programme, Gonsalves said Sir Hilary’s title of “Knight of St Andrew” is part of Barbados’ own national honours system and has no connection to the British monarchy.
“He does not have a British knighthood,” Gonsalves said. “It is a Barbadian honour granted by the Government of Barbados without any reference to the British Crown.”
His comments come amid public discussion surrounding UWI’s planned move to formally sever its constitutional ties to the British monarchy and transition away from its 1948 Royal Charter.
The university’s vice-chancellor has said the institution is seeking to redefine its legal foundation through the CARICOM Treaty of Chaguaramas, describing the shift as part of its evolution into a fully independent regional university.
Gonsalves, however, used his remarks to push back against criticism directed at Sir Hilary, suggesting that misunderstandings about Caribbean honours systems were fuelling unfair personal attacks.
He said Barbados had developed its own system of national honours after independence, separate from the British system, and stressed that Antigua and Barbuda had also previously operated similar arrangements.
“There are some people whose instinct is just to pick on somebody to pull them down for no good reason,” he said.
The clarification comes as UWI advances plans to end its formal constitutional link to the British Crown, a relationship established when the institution was founded in 1948 as a college of the University of London under Royal Charter.
The proposed transition would place the university under regional legal authority through CARICOM, while maintaining its role as a leading higher education institution in the Caribbean.