Queen Elizabeth and Belize: A Long Shadow, Now Fading
For decades, every Belizean who held a dollar bill held the Queen.
Not just her image — but everything it stood for.
I grew up with her face in my pocket. On the $2 bill, the $5, the $10… she was there when I bought juice after school, when my mother gave me change for the shop, when I got my first pay.
She was there — even though she was never here.
👑 How Queen Elizabeth Came to Be on Our Money
Belize, once called British Honduras, was a British colony until 1981.
And even after gaining independence, we kept strong ties with the UK — through the Commonwealth, through defense agreements, and through our currency.
It’s why Queen Elizabeth II appeared on every denomination of Belizean banknotes for over 40 years.
Even as our people moved toward sovereignty, our money kept her close.
✈️ She Never Visited Belize — But She Was Everywhere
It surprises some visitors to learn this: Queen Elizabeth never visited Belize.
Prince Harry came. Prince William came.
But the Queen — the woman whose portrait watched over our classrooms and currency — never walked our land.
Still, her legacy lingered:
- On every banknote
- In the names of old institutions
- In the language of our government and legal systems
She was absent in body, but present in influence.
🧭 A Nation of Many Threads
To understand why her image lasted so long, you have to understand Belize.
We’re not a country of conquest.
We’re a country of survival, coexistence, and layers — Maya, Garifuna, African, Mestizo, Creole, East Indian, Mennonite, British, and more.
Our national identity wasn’t born with war.
It was shaped through negotiation, cultural fusion, and slow, stubborn movement forward.
That’s why change takes time here.
But when it comes, it comes with meaning.
💸 2025: A Quiet but Powerful Goodbye
In August 2025, Belize released its new currency — and for the first time, Queen Elizabeth was gone.
In her place now:
- George Price, our first Prime Minister
- Philip Goldson, a hero of democracy and justice
The money still holds its value — 2 Belize dollars = 1 US dollar — but the face has changed.
And with it, the feeling of what it means to spend a Belizean dollar.
🛤️ Her Name Lives On — For Now
Two of our major highways were named in the colonial era:
- Western Highway → now renamed George Price Highway
- Northern Highway → renamed Philip Goldson Highway
But the Queen Elizabeth II Boulevard in Belmopan still exists.
So do stories of loyalty, ambivalence, and questioning — all wrapped up in what it means to belong to the Commonwealth in a post-colonial world.
🌐 Belize and the Commonwealth Today: Still Tied, But on Our Terms
Belize is still a member of the Commonwealth of Nations — a political and cultural network of former British territories that includes over 50 countries, from Canada to India to Jamaica.
Even after the Queen’s passing, King Charles III remains the symbolic head of the Commonwealth.
But here in Belize, that role is mostly ceremonial.
We:
- Elect our own Prime Minister
- Appoint a Governor-General as a local head of state
- Manage our own military, currency, and borders
- Pass our own laws through an independent Parliament
We’re tied by history — not control.
In fact, Belize has been openly discussing its future as a republic, similar to what Barbados did in 2021, when they removed the British monarch as head of state.
So while we may still attend Commonwealth summits, and our children may learn about the Queen in history class — we are no longer defined by the Crown.
We are Belizean first.
🔍 What Her Absence Reveals
Some may say removing the Queen from our currency is symbolic.
But symbols are how people remember. They shape how we see power, value, and pride.
This wasn’t about erasing history.
It was about centering our own.
The Queen’s reign — for all its diplomacy and legacy — is no longer the center of our Belizean story.
We’re not erasing her.
We’re moving beyond her.
🗣 My Reflection
I don’t feel bitterness about the Queen.
But I do feel relief.
That my sons will grow up holding currency that reflects their own people.
That Belizeans now circulate faces that lived and died for this land, not a distant monarch.
In a way, this change isn’t about looking back.
It’s about choosing who we carry forward.
📎 Want More?
Philip Goldson and George Price
What Money Do They Use in Belize
Belize Dollar Fixed Exchange Rate
