:Queen of Sierra Leone

File:1956 Sierra Leone stamps.jpg

Sierra Leone became an independent realm by the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961, which transformed the British Crown Colony of Sierra Leone into an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations.{{cite hansard|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1961/mar/27/sierra-leone-independence-bill|title=Sierra Leone Independence Bill|date=27 March 1961|volume=230|column=23–40|house=Lords}} Queen Elizabeth II became the head of state and Queen of Sierra Leone, and was represented by the governor-general who resided at the State House.{{cite book|title=British Foreign Policy and the Conflict in Sierra Leone, 1991–2001|author=Michael S. Kargbo|year=2006|publisher=Peter Lang|pages=70–71|isbn=0-8204-7506-8}}

The Duke of Kent represented the Queen at the independence celebrations. Princess Alexandra of Kent represented the Queen at a Thanksgiving Service held in London on Sierra Leone's Independence Day.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfFEAQAAIAAJ|page=9|title=Memo: Issue 4, Part 4|year=1964|author=Great Britain. Colonial Office. Information Department}} At Freetown, the Duke of Kent opened the new Parliament Building on 26 April. Sierra Leone became independent at midnight of 26-27 April and later that day the Duke took part in the State opening of Parliament, where the Duke handed over the constitutional instruments to Sir Milton Margai, which made Sierra Leone an independent nation.{{citation|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2011/apr/27/archive-sierra-leone-celebrates-independence-1961|title=From the archive, 27 April 1961: Sierra Leone celebrates independence|work=The Guardian|date=27 April 2011|access-date=10 September 2021}}{{citation|isbn=9781418455491|page=99|title=Sierra Leone Remembered|year=2004|author=Esther L. Megill}} Later Sir Maurice Dorman, the Governor, was sworn in as the Governor-General, the Queen's representative, by Chief Justice Beoku Betts.{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/27/newsid_2502000/2502411.stm|title=1961: Sierra Leone wins independence|work=BBC|date=27 April 1961 |access-date=10 September 2021}}

The Queen sent a message to Sierra Leoneans, in which she said:

{{quote|My husband and I are looking forward with pleasure to our own visit to you later this year, but today our thoughts are with you. It is with special pleasure that I welcome you to our Commonwealth family of nations. You step forward into the councils of the world at a time of rapid change, but I know that Sierra Leone, grounded firmly in her own traditions, will play a worthy part there. I send you my own good wishes and pray that God may bless and guide you throughout the coming years.}}

File:Flag of the Governor-General of Sierra Leone (1961–1971).svg]]

Sierra Leone was one of the realms of the Commonwealth of Nations that shared the same person as Sovereign and head of state.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=586}}

Effective with the Sierra Leone Independence Act 1961, no British government minister could advise the sovereign on any matters pertaining to Sierra Leone, meaning that on all matters of Sierra Leone, the monarch was advised solely by Sierra Leonean ministers of the Crown. All Sierra Leonean bills required Royal assent. The Sierra Leonean monarch was represented in the country by the Governor-General of Sierra Leone, who was appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Sierra Leonean Prime Minister.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O0zODQAAQBAJ|page=441|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1971-72: The Businessman's Encyclopaedia of All Nations|date=28 December 2016 |isbn=9780230271005|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK}}

The Sierra Leonean monarch and the Sierra Leonean House of Representatives constituted the Parliament of Sierra Leone.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5qolAAAAMAAJ|page=676|title=An Encyclopaedia of Parliament|year=1968|author=Norman W. Wilding, Philip Laundy|publisher=F. A. Praeger}}{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=226}} All executive powers of Sierra Leone rested with the sovereign.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=238}} All laws in Sierra Leone were enacted only with the granting of royal assent, done by the Governor-General on behalf of the sovereign. The Governor-General was also responsible for summoning, proroguing, and dissolving Parliament.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=237}} The Governor-General had the power to choose and appoint the Council of Ministers and could dismiss them under his discretion. All Sierra Leonean ministers of the Crown held office at the pleasure of the Governor-General.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=239}}

Sierra Leonean representatives to foreign countries were accredited by the monarch in her capacity as Queen of Sierra Leone and Sierra Leonean envoys sent abroad required royal approval. The letters of credence were formally issued in the name of the monarch.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=juBIAQAAIAAJ|page=NO. 505|title=Press Releases|year=1961|author=United States Department of State}}

All Sierra Leonean judges had to swear that they would "well and truly serve" the monarch of Sierra Leone and "do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of Sierra Leone without fear or favour, affection or ill will".{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|page=209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ}}

The highest court of appeal for Sierra Leone was the Judicial Committee of the Queen's Privy Council.{{cite web |title=Sierra Leone - Government and society |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sierra-Leone/Government-and-society#ref274787 |website=Britannica |access-date=22 February 2021}}{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=246}} The monarch, and by extension the governor-general, could also grant immunity from prosecution, exercise the royal prerogative of mercy, and pardon offences against the Crown, either before, during, or after a trial.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|page=242|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ}}

File:Sierra Leone Gazette 1962.jpg

The Royal Style and Titles Act, 1961 of the Sierra Leonean Parliament granted the monarch separate style and titles in her role as Queen of Sierra Leone.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|page=411-412|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ}}

Elizabeth II had the following style and titles in her role as the monarch of Sierra Leone:

• 27 April 1961{{spaced ndash}}28 December 1961: 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{{London Gazette| issue = 39873| date = 26 May 1953| page = 3023| supp = y}}{{cite web|title=Sierra Leone: Heads of State: 1961–1971|url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/sierra_leone/00_1961_1971_s.php|access-date=22 May 2021|publisher=archontology.org}}
• 28 December 1961{{spaced ndash}}19 April 1971: Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Sierra Leone and of Her Other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth{{citation|last1=Edgington|first1=David William|title=The Theory and Practice of Government: A Handbook of Current Affairs for Students in Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qMGAAAAMAAJ|pages=122|year=1972|publisher=Evans Bros.|isbn=9780237288426}}

The oath of allegiance in Sierra Leone was:

A person could choose to replace the word swear with the phrase solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare, and to omit the phrase so help me God.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|page=209|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ}}

{{rquote|right|For more than a hundred and fifty years we had been associated with the British Crown. But much as our people loved Queen Victoria and have been proud to be loyal subjects of the Crown in succeeding years, it was not by our own choice. We were not then free to choose. Now, Your Majesty, we are free, free to determine our own future, free to make our own choice. In that freedom we have chosen Your Majesty and one and all in Sierra Leone today applauds that choice. You yourself have graciously consented to become Our Queen. Your Majesty has acquired a new, proud and devoted people—we have acquired our own Queen who now knows us as we know her.|Milton Margai, Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, 1961{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=60}}}}

Within the Commonwealth realms, the monarch is deemed the "fount of honour".{{citation|title=Commonwealth Journal: The Journal of the Royal Commonwealth Society · Volumes 12-14|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=inArAQAAMAAJ|pages=99|year=1969|publisher=Royal Commonwealth Society}} Similarly, the monarch, as Sovereign of Sierra Leone, conferred awards and honours in Sierra Leone in her name. Most of them were awarded on the advice of "Her Majesty's Sierra Leone Ministers".{{London Gazette |issue=43670 |date=4 June 1965 |page=5517 |supp=4 }}{{London Gazette |issue=44866 |date=6 June 1969 |page=6005 |supp=4 }}

The Governor-General was the Commander-in-Chief of Sierra Leone.{{citation|title=Supplement to the Laws with an Index of Legislation in Force on 31 December 1961|year=1961|author=Sierra Leone|publisher=Government Printer, South Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7vY-AQAAIAAJ|page=226}}

The Crown sat at the pinnacle of the Sierra Leonean Defence Force. It was reflected in the Sierra Leonean Military Forces, which were known as "Royal Sierra Leone Military Forces". The prefix "Royal" was dropped when the Sierra Leonean monarchy was abolished.{{citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xn4sAAAAYAAJ|title=Regiments: Regiments and Corps of the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1758-1993 : a Critical Bibliography of Their Published Histories |page=246|year=1994|publisher=R. Perkins|isbn=9780950642932 }}

File:Royal Standard of Sierra Leone.svg

Queen Elizabeth II had a personal flag for use in Sierra Leone.{{citation|title=Flags of the World|year=1978|publisher=F. Warne|isbn=9780723220152|pages=27|quote=The Royal Standard had accordingly been designed for Sierra Leone, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Malta.}}{{citation|last1=Cathcart|first1=Helen|title=Her Majesty the Queen: The Story of Elizabeth II.|year=1962|publisher=Dodd, Mead|pages=236|quote=When she adopted a new personal flag specifically for use in Sierra Leone "to fly on all occasions when Her Majesty is present in person", the monarch endowed special ceremonial status upon one of her smaller independent states.}} It was used for the first time when she visited the nation in 1961. The flag featured the coat of arms of Sierra Leone in banner form, which depicts a lion beneath a zigzag border, representing the Lion Mountains, after which the country was named. It also shows three torches which are meant to symbolize peace and dignity. At the base are wavy bars depicting the sea. A blue disc of the letter "E" crowned surrounded by a garland of gold roses defaces the flag, which is taken from the Queen's Personal Flag.{{citation|title=Sierra Leone Trade Journal|year=1961 |publisher=Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V2NOAQAAIAAJ|page=52|quote=The new personal flag which the Queen has adopted for use in Sierra Leone during her visit in November. It consists of a flag of THE ARMS OF SIERRA LEONE charged in the centre with Her Majesty's own device, namely on a blue field the initial letter 'E' ... Royal Crown both in gold (or yellow) all within a ... of roses also in gold (or yellow).}}{{Cite web|date=1958 |title=SIERRA LEONE FLAGS. H.M the Queen for Use in Sierra Leone, vintage print 1958 |url=https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-sierra-leone-flags-hm-the-queen-for-use-in-sierra-leone-vintage-print-115384140.html |work=Alamy |access-date=14 May 2021}} The Sierra Leonean standard also served as the inspiration for the design and layout of her personal standard for Canada.{{cite book|last1=Bousfield|first1=Arthur|last2=Toffoli|first2=Garry|year=2002|title=Fifty Years the Queen: A Tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on Her Golden Jubilee|publisher=Dundurn|isbn=9781459714359|pages=119|quote=The inspiration for the flag came from the personal one that had been adopted at the Queen's own instigation for Sierra Leone the previous year. The Queen's flag was to be used in whatever place in the country the Sovereign personally present.}}

The Queen said in her Christmas broadcast in 1958, that she and her husband would be visiting Sierra Leone in late 1959.{{citation|url=https://www.royal.uk/christmas-broadcast-1958|title=Christmas Broadcast 1958|work=Royal.uk|date=25 December 1958 |access-date=10 September 2021}} But later the visit was postponed, as she had become pregnant in 1959.{{citation|url=https://www.vogue.com/article/kate-middleton-pregnant-annoucement-history|title=Queen Elizabeth, Kate Middleton, and the Changing Game of Royal Pregnancy Announcements|work=VOGUE|date=12 September 2017|access-date=10 September 2021}}

{{External media |float=left |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x_56-r8w0w Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1961)] Source: BFI National Archive.}}

Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Sierra Leone from 25 November to 1 December 1961.{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/RoyalVisits/Commonwealthvisitssince1952.aspx|title=Commonwealth visits since 1952|publisher=Royal Household|work=Official website of the British monarchy|access-date=8 November 2015}} They arrived in Freetown on the royal yacht Britannia, and Queen Elizabeth II Quay was so-named as a result.{{cite web|title=Pomp, ceremony and Haile Selassie's pet lions – the most memorable royal tours of Africa|date=24 September 2018|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/africa/articles/royal-tours-africa/|access-date=8 July 2021}}

Elizabeth II was welcomed as the queen of Sierra Leone and she also used a distinct Sierra Leonean flag.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x_56-r8w0w|via=YouTube|author=BFI|title=Sierra Leone Greets the Queen (1961) | BFI National Archive|date=1961|access-date=8 July 2021}}{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=29}} Colloquially, she was referred to as Mama Queen II by the people of Sierra Leone.{{citation|title=Time vol. 78, part 3| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VBIHAQAAIAAJ |year=1961|publisher=Time Incorporated|pages=23|quote=At a ceremonial durbar, in the Sierra Leone provincial town of Bo, some of the paramount chiefs got so high on palm wine that they had to be carried to greet "Mama Queen II" (Queen Victoria was Mama Queen I).}} She was given a gold key to the city of Freetown by its mayor, who wore red robes and a cocked hat.{{cite journal|title=Queen causes a frenzy in Freetown: A royal visit to Sierra Leone creates colourful boating chaos|date=26 November 1961|journal=The Observer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2013/nov/24/queen-causes-frenzy-sierra-leone-freetown|access-date=8 November 2015}} The Queen and her husband stayed at the governor-general's residence during their visit. The monarch also presented new colours to the Royal Sierra Leone Regiment at the Brookfields Stadium.{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=47}} The new Queen's Colour incorporated the new flag of Sierra Leone. The new colours, placed upon piled drums, were blessed by the imam of the Muslim Congress – "In thy holy name, O Allah, most gracious, most merciful" – by the Roman Catholic bishop of Freetown and Bo, by the president of the United Christian Council and by the Anglican bishop of Freetown.

In Bo, a durbar of paramount chiefs was held for the Queen at the Bo Coronation field, where chiefs and their "Devil Dancers" performed for the royal couple.{{citation|work=Mariane C. Ferme|title=Out of War: Violence, Trauma, and the Political Imagination in Sierra Leone |year=2018 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bk9jDwAAQBAJ|isbn=9780520967526 |publisher=University of California Press}}{{cite web|title=Sierra Leone, Bo Province|work=Getty Images|url=https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/news-photo/sierra-leone-bo-province-hm-the-queen-elizabeth-ii-and-news-photo/106758176|access-date=8 July 2021}} Each paramount chief was presented to the monarch and awarded a commemorative medal.

File:Sierra Leone medal, obverse 1961–71.jpg

The Queen and the Duke toured several places and attended a number of events, including the Bo Hospital,{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=5}} an agricultural show in Kenema, the iron ore in Marampa, the Sierra Leone Press and Radio, a civic reception by the Freetown City Council, a gathering of chiefs and people at Port Loko,{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=23}} and the Children's Rally and Citizens' Parade in Freetown. In honour of the royal visit, an entire model village was laid out, so that the Queen could see how some of the people of Sierra Leone live in villages. She and her husband also attended a divine service at the St. George's Cathedral in Freetown, where they were received by the Bishop of Sierra Leone.{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=11}} The Duke of Edinburgh also visited the Guma Valley, where a dam was being built. At the University of Sierra Leone, Queen Elizabeth II, being the visitor of the university, presented degrees to students, accompanied by her husband and the prime minister.

{{Quote box| width=250px| border=1px| align=left| quote=It gives great satisfaction to me and to my husband that we should be able to visit Sierra Leone at this historic stage in its development. It has been a great pleasure to see for ourselves its beauty and to meet so many of its peoples.{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=64}}| salign=right| source=Elizabeth II of Sierra Leone, 1961}}

At a dinner banquet, Prime Minister Milton Margai addressed the Queen and said, "your visit means above everything else that you are more to us than a distant Head of the Commonwealth. You are indeed Our Queen and we have a special claim on your interest, sympathy and affection". The Queen, speaking of Prime Minister Milton Margai, said, "Sierra Leone can count herself truly fortunate, but while gaining her independence, she has found a leader wise, experienced and devoted to her people".{{citation|work=Sierra Leone. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yR8wAAAAIAAJ |title=Royal Visit to Sierra Leone, 25th November-1st December, 1961: A Record in Words and Pictures|year=1962|publisher=Ministry of Information|pages=61}} In Freetown, she visited the Parliament of Sierra Leone, where she received a loyal address.

At the end of the tour, a garden party was given by Margai at his official residence. During her departure from Sierra Leone, the Queen was presented with an indigenous Sierra Leonean diamond by Margai, as a farewell gift.

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The Sierra Leonean monarchy was abolished in 1971, when the country became a republic within the Commonwealth with a president as head of state.{{cite web |title=Sierra Leone - Government and society |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Sierra-Leone/Government-and-society |website=Britannica |access-date=22 February 2021}}

• Medals of Sierra Leone (1961–1971)
• Sierra Leone Independence Medal

{{reflist}}

{{Commonwealth realms}}

{{Elizabeth II|state=collapsed}}

Category:Government of Sierra Leone

Category:Politics of Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Category:Heads of state of Sierra Leone

Category:1961 establishments in Sierra Leone

Category:1971 disestablishments in Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone

Category:Former monarchies of Africa

Category:Political history of Sierra Leone