LONDON, Oct 2 (Reuters) – King Charles will not shy away from “the darkest days of our past” over Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade when he tours the Caribbean later this month, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.
Charles and his wife Queen Camilla will visit the Bahamas and Guyana, before heading to Antigua and Barbuda where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is being held from November 1-4 this year.
The trip comes amid growing clamour from Caribbean and African nations for Britain and other colonial powers to pay reparations for their involvement in slavery, with the issue likely to be prominent at CHOGM.
The British government has ruled out paying any reparations though Charles, who remains the head of state of a number of Caribbean nations including both the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, has previously expressed his sorrow about slavery.
“There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told reporters, saying the visit was coming at an important time in the relationship between Britain and Caribbean nations.
“The visit programme will therefore not shy away from ‘the darkest days of our past’, as his majesty has described them, but – in keeping with the wishes of our host nations – it will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country.”
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European merchants, with Britain responsible for transporting an estimated 3.2 million people, making it the second most active European nation after Portugal.
Charles, who is head of the Commonwealth group of 56 nations – mainly former British colonies – encompassing some 2.7 billion people, has backed research into the British monarchy’s own historical links to the trade.
Last month, the Jamaican government also formally asked him to seek legal advice on whether Britain should pay reparations and said it was “encouraged” by the engagement of Buckingham Palace.
“It is important to note here the work his majesty himself has done over many years both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to right inequalities that endure,” the palace spokesperson said.
“As you would therefore expect, opportunities will be found during the visit to reflect and renew his personal, wholehearted, and continuing commitment to that process.”
In February, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey told Reuters she expected its members to make progress towards beginning negotiations on reparations.
(Reporting by Liza Premiyak; writing by Michael Holden, editing by Philippa Fletcher)
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