london —
Britain’s King Charles III began a nine-day tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday, arriving in the Bahamas to acknowledge the “great suffering and injustice of the past” amid mounting pressure to apologize and pay reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade.
Prince Charles’ trip to the region will also include stops in Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) with Queen Camilla.
Speaking at a youth rally in Nassau, Bahamas, the 77-year-old monarch acknowledged the country’s painful history and confirmed that the legacy of slavery would be discussed by Commonwealth leaders at next week’s biennial 56-nation summit.
Prince Charles’ first visit to the Caribbean as monarch comes amid renewed calls for Britain to seek reparations for its role in forcibly transporting an estimated three million people across the Atlantic and enslaving them in the New World.
Federation Solicitor General Shirley Botchway said last week that the time has come to talk about reparations. Asked by Sky News if the King should apologize for Britain’s historic role in the slave trade, Botchway said: “I don’t mind if he does.”
“That’s what countries are asking for,” Botchway added. “I don’t think we can run away from this issue. But it is important to decide what form reparations should take, and that will eventually become clear.”
Meanwhile, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), made up of 23 member states and associate states, said last month that it would seek to put reparations on the agenda of the CHOGM.
“Caribbean countries have consistently maintained that reparations are fundamentally about justice,” CARICOM Secretary-General Carla Barnett said in a speech. “It is about recognition, accountability, and change, and about building a just and equitable future for the descendants of those who endured untold suffering, loss of life, and loss of freedom as the property of colonial masters.”
The king can only act on the advice of his ministers when representing the country abroad and continues to follow the British government’s advice not to issue a formal apology for Britain’s role in the slave trade, despite new demands. Buckingham Palace said it would not apologize during the Caribbean trip because these issues were “issues for governments to deal with”, but said: “We will not run away from the darkest days of our past.”
At the last CHOGM in 2024, Charles acknowledged that “the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate.” However, he stopped short of issuing a public apology and was not directly involved in the matter.
British Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Tuesday that compensation was not a “reasonable demand”. Mr Reynolds told Sky News that he was “sensitive to British history” and “we should be able to talk about it”, but said he should not blame the current generation for past events.
In recent years, the British royal family has adopted a more conciliatory tone in addressing the horrors of slavery. “Past misdeeds are the cause of our greatest sorrow and deepest regret,” Prince Charles said during his 2023 trip to Kenya, his first visit to a Commonwealth country as chairman.
It is estimated that at least 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped and sold into slavery by European traders between the 15th and 19th centuries, and Britain played a role in transporting around 3.2 million.
When slavery was abolished in Britain in 1834, the government compensated slave owners worth 17 billion pounds ($22.5 billion), but slaves received nothing, according to a study by University College London.
King Charles has a busy schedule scheduled for Wednesday, including an audience with the Prime Minister and Governor General of the Bahamas. He will also meet the families of four Royal Bahamian Defense Force (RBDF) Marines who were killed when the HMBS Flamingo was sunk by a Cuban MiG fighter in May 1980 following a dispute over illegal fishing. He will also take part in environmental activities and end the day with a reception in the garden.
