The sun will finally set on the British Empire, reportedly heavily due to President Joe Biden’s pressure on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

According to the Telegraph, Biden administration officials told their British counterparts that a refusal to give up the Chagos Islands in the Indian Sea would jeopardize the U.S.-U.K. “special relationship.” A deal was reached with Mauritius last week to transfer sovereignty of the British territory, one of the last of the United Kingdom’s possessions in the Indo-Pacific region. On March 21, 2025, the old adage that the “sun never sets on the British Empire” will no longer be true, as the sun will set on all of the U.K.’s territorial possessions for the first time in more than 200 years.