Antigua and Barbuda has introduced a formalized, codified system for regulating the use of official honorific titles and styles, bringing the Caribbean nation’s protocol in line with longstanding Commonwealth norms while honoring its own unique constitutional heritage. The new regulatory framework was enacted via a Vice-Regal Warrant signed off on December 10, 2025, by Governor-General Sir Rodney Williams, who exercised his constitutional authority to issue the order with the required countersignature from Prime Minister Gaston Browne.
The core objective of this new regulatory structure is to bring consistent, dignified, and clear standards to the conferral and use of official titles for the country’s constitutional officeholders and prominent distinguished citizens. Under the newly outlined rules, the prestigious lifetime style of “The Right Honourable” is automatically granted to five categories of individuals: sitting and former Governors-General, incumbent Prime Ministers once they begin their fourth term in office, former Prime Ministers who completed at least four full terms in office, and all members of His Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council. In addition to these automatic conferrals, the warrant grants the Governor-General the power to bestow the honorary lifetime style on other deserving former prime ministers or distinguished private citizens, provided any such appointment is countersigned by the sitting Prime Minister.
For elected representatives, the rules maintain the longstanding convention that sitting members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives retain the style “The Honourable” for the duration of their time in office. The Governor-General also holds the authority to issue a special warrant allowing former officeholders or other noteworthy individuals to keep the style “The Honourable” for life. Recipients of the Order of the Caribbean Community (OCC) are also formally designated as eligible to use the “The Honourable” style under the new regulations. The title “Excellency” remains reserved for relevant high-ranking officeholders in line with longstanding diplomatic and constitutional practice.
To allow for future adaptation of the protocol, the warrant includes provisions that permit the sitting Governor-General to amend, expand, reinterpret, or fully revoke the rules at any point via a subsequent official warrant, issued with the Governor-General’s official seal and signature and countersigned by the Prime Minister. In line with the warrant’s text, the new system formalizes unwritten national protocol for official appellations, aligning Antigua and Barbuda’s framework with widely accepted Commonwealth practices while preserving the country’s distinct constitutional and national traditions. As one of the first beneficiaries of the new rules, Prime Minister Gaston Browne has already been formally granted the lifetime style of “The Right Honourable” under the new regulations.