Singer and entrepreneur Rihanna has been declared a national hero by the Barbadian Prime Minister, Mia Mottley.
Rihanna was decorated during an event to celebrate the Caribbean Island nation becoming a republic, replacing British monarch with its head of state, and effectively severing its last remaining colonial bonds nearly 400 years after the first English ships arrived at the Caribbean Island.
Mia Mottley said to a jubilant crowd in the capital, Bridgetown that “on behalf of a grateful nation, but an even prouder people, we therefore present to you the designee for national hero for Barbados, ambassador Robyn Rihanna Fenty.”
“May you continue to shine like a diamond and bring honour to your nation by your works, by your actions,” she added.
33-year-old Rihanna was born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, before moving to the United States after New York-based music producer Evan Rogers discovered her.
Following an alluring display of Barbadian dance and music, complete with speeches celebrating the end of colonialism, Sandra Mason was sworn in as Barbados’s first president.