Humphrey Gibbs - As Governor of Rhodesia

As Governor of Rhodesia

In 1959, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Gibbs Governor of Southern Rhodesia and appointed him a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1960. The Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Rhodesian Front Government (under Prime Minister Ian Smith) in November 1965 placed Gibbs in a very difficult position: He was intensely loyal to Rhodesia – and was a close friend of Ian Smith, but while understanding what had made Smith's government declare the UDI, he was also equally loyal to his office as the Queen's viceroy. Deciding that final legality rested in the Crown and not Prime Minister Smith, he declared that by its action of the UDI, the Rhodesian Government had established itself as an outlaw regime.

So when Ian Smith and Deputy Prime Minister Clifford Dupont called on Gibbs after the UDI was signed, he formally dismissed Smith and his cabinet from office (though the Rhodesian Government simply ignored the dismissal, justifying this on the grounds that the UDI and new constitution made Gibbs' position redundant).