Queen of Mauritius
{{Short description|Elizabeth II's reign in Mauritius from 1968 to 1992}}
{{Infobox former monarchy
| royal_title = Queen
| realm = Mauritius
| border =
| coatofarms = Coat of arms of Mauritius.svg
| coatofarmssize = 120px
| coatofarmscaption = Coat of arms of Mauritius
| image = Queen Elizabeth II official portrait for 1959 tour (retouched) (cropped) (3-to-4 aspect ratio).jpg
| caption = Elizabeth II
| style = Her Majesty
| began = 12 March 1968
| ended = 12 March 1992
}}
Elizabeth II was Queen of Mauritius as well as its head of state from 1968 to 1992 when Mauritius was an independent sovereign state and a constitutional monarchy within the Commonwealth of Nations.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13882233|title=Mauritius country profile|publisher=BBC|access-date=9 November 2015}} She was also the monarch of other Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom. Her constitutional roles in Mauritius were delegated to a governor-general. Mauritius became a republic in 1992.
History
File:Mauritius 10 Rupees 1971 Elizabeth II(obv)-4041.jpg coin, 1971|200x200px]]
The Parliament of the United Kingdom's Mauritius Independence Act 1968 transformed the British Crown Colony of Mauritius into an independent sovereign state. Unusually, no member of the British royal family attended the independence ceremony on the island because of security concerns. Princess Alexandra was due to attend but after communal violence the British minister of state for the Commonwealth, Lord Shepherd, advised that her visit be cancelled.{{cite book|title=Monarchy and the End of Empire: The House of Windsor, the British Government, and the Postwar Commonwealth|author=Philip Murphy|date=2013|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages=84–85|isbn=978-0-19-921423-5}}
Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, visited Mauritius for three days (24–26 March) in 1972, as part of a tour of Asia and Africa. They arrived in Port Louis on the royal yacht Britannia after visiting the Seychelles. They were met by a crowd of nearly a quarter of a million people, and rode through the city in an open-topped car. During the visit, the Queen opened the sixth session of the third Mauritius Parliament. The royal couple left Mauritius for Nairobi by air. It was the first ever visit to the island by a reigning monarch.{{cite web|url=http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1972/03/24/BGY508150428/?s=motorcade |title=Mauritius: Queen Elizabeth Arrives for a Three-Day Visit to Mauritius |publisher=ITN |access-date=9 November 2015}}
Mauritius became a republic within the Commonwealth in 1992 with the president of Mauritius replacing Elizabeth as head of state.{{cite web |title=Barbados to remove Queen Elizabeth as head of state |website=BBC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604183339/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54174794 |archive-date=2023-06-04 |url-status=live |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-54174794}}
Queen's Personal Flag for Mauritius
Queen Elizabeth II had a personal flag for use in Mauritius. It was used when she visited the nation on 24–26 March 1972, when she first opened the Mauritian Parliament in Port Louis in person.{{cite web|title=SYND 25-3-72 QUEEN ELIZABETH VISITS MAURITIUS AND OPENS PARLIAMENT|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EkqIES4I8JA|work=AP Archive|access-date=14 May 2021}} The flag consisted of the coat of arms of Mauritius in banner form: quarterly azure and or, in the first quarter a lymphad of the last in the second, 3 palm trees eradicated vert, in the third, a key in pale the wards downwards gules, and in the issuant, from the base a pile, and in chief a mullet argent.[https://web.archive.org/web/20060721150122/http://www.gov.mu/portal/site/abtmtius/menuitem.64c8475c9c8cb1984d57241079b521ca/ Coat of Arms - Republic of Mauritius] 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=Flag Bulletin, Volume 27|year=1988|publisher=Flag Research Center|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7jIrAQAAIAAJ|pages=134|quote=PERSONAL FLAGS The Royal Standard is the flag used to represent Queen Elizabeth II throughout the United Kingdom and dependencies, in all non-Commonwealth countries, and sometimes in the dominions. .. Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, Mauritius ... Sierra Leone, Malta, and Trinidad and Tobago also had such flags.}}
Royal style and titles
File:Mauritius Government Gazette 1968.jpeg
Elizabeth II had the following style and titles in her role as the monarch of Mauritius:
- 12 March 1968 – 25 April 1968: 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|url=http://www.archontology.org/nations/mauritius/00_1968_1992_s.php|title= Mauritius: Heads of State: 1968-1992|publisher=archontology.org|access-date=22 May 2021}}
- 25 April 1968 – 12 March 1992: Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Mauritius and of Her other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth{{citation|isbn=9780230271142|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EtnMDQAAQBAJ|title=The Statesman's Year-Book 1985-86|year=2016|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan UK|pages=28}}{{cite book |title=Revised Laws of Mauritius, 1981 |year=1981 |publisher=Attorney-General's Office |page=75 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nfk-AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA75 |access-date=29 April 2022}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Commonwealth realms}}
{{Elizabeth II|state=collapsed}}
Category:Government of Mauritius
Category:Politics of Mauritius
Category:Heads of state of Mauritius
Category:1968 establishments in Mauritius
Category:1992 disestablishments in Mauritius