Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: The death of Queen Elizabeth II will accelerate the push by former UK colonies to ditch the British crown, experts and advocates have said, amid heightened anti-colonial sentiments in the remaining Commonwealth realms.
Despite the collapse of the British Empire in the last century, 14 countries have kept the monarch as their head of state after gaining independence.
But with King Charles III ascending to the throne after the death of his mother last week, several nations are expected to break ties with Buckingham Palace in the years to come – and move towards a full republican system that does not recognize the monarch.
“There was already stirring of republicanism in a number of these different countries. But as long as the Queen was alive, there was that sentimental attachment to her person – not to the institution, but to the queen herself,” said Brooke Newman, an associate professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“Now that she is gone, there is much less of a sentimental attachment to the institution of the monarchy, and then even less so to the person of Charles III.”
