kissed Caribbean beaches to icy north Atlantic tundra, Queen Elizabeth II's family has begun a celebratory tour to mark her 60th year on the throne — just as questions are raised about dumping the monarchy in the far-flung outposts of Britain's faded empire. Prince Harry has opened celebrations in Jamaica, the nation that is most vocally stirring opposition to the queen's role as head of state of 16 nations and 14 smaller British dependencies, and Prince Charles will travel to Australia, where the prime minister has raised doubts about continued allegiance to the crown. While the 85-year-old monarch commands respect across her dominions, opinion polls show republican movements in some countries would gain momentum if Charles takes the British throne as expected. Harry, third in line to the throne, meets Tuesday with Jamaica's Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who says the queen is a “lovely lady” but insists her country must sever remaining links to Britain, in part because of the shameful legacy of slavery. “It is important to us because it is part of a journey, a journey that started when our ancestors were dragged, sold into slavery and brought here and elsewhere in the Caribbean,” Simpson Miller said. Millions of Africans were transported as slaves to Caribbean colonies until Britain abolished its slave trade in 1807.
