Caribbean nations say “now is the time” for the King to say sorry for his ancestral involvement in the slave trade.
Campaigners are demanding King Charles apologise and make reparations this year.
Their calls are echoed by aristocratic families who have made public apologies for their historic ownership of enslaved people.
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William of Orange was gifted a thousand pounds of shares in the Royal African Company, which shipped nearly 200,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic
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File pic: PA
In recent years, the reparations movement in the Caribbean has grown in strength, led by the Caricom Reparations Commission made up of 20 member nations and states.
The commission’s vice-chair, Eric Phillips, told Sky News: “The King has an opportunity to not only apologise, but to have time to create the architecture of change and the architecture of negotiation that could move things forward.”
Senior royals haven’t stayed silent about slavery, but they have stopped short of saying sorry.
In 2023, the King told Commonwealth leaders: “I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact.”
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The Duke of Cambridge has expressed his ‘profound sorrow’ about the horrors of the slave trade
Prince William addressed the issue during a speech while visiting Jamaica in 2022 with these carefully-chosen words: “Slavery was abhorrent and should never have happened.”
Greg Hands, a trade minister, was asked whether the King should apologise.
He told Sky News it was a matter “for each person”.
Mr Hands added that it was the UK that “abolished the transatlantic slave trade now some 217 years ago”, and that the Royal Navy enforced the ban.
Asked if this means the royal family does not need to apologise, the government minister said it was a “better thing” to look to the future.
But campaigners are calling for more than the recent rhetoric, and Mr Phillips wants an apology this year.
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Documents held at the national archive at Kew in London show how much the Royal took part in the slave trade
He said: “I think now is the time given all that’s happening globally in terms of justice, with Black Lives Matter, human rights, it’s an appropriate thing for him to do.”
The King is supporting research into the crown’s connection with the transatlantic slave trade.
The links are well documented, and the national archives hold many of the records which show how the monarchy were not only involved in the slave trade, but actively investing in it.
Charles II helped found the Royal African Company, which shipped nearly 200,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic.
Years later, another document shows how William of Orange was gifted a thousand pounds of shares in the company by the notorious slave trader Edward Colston, whose statue was torn down by protesters in 2020.
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Documents show the Royal’s links to slavery
And there are connections from other sides of the King’s family. Edward Porteous, an ancestor of the late Queen Mother’s Bowes-Lyon family, received slaves to work on his plantation.
Some aristocratic families have started saying sorry, including ancestors of the Trevelyan family who owned enslaved people in Grenada.
They made a public apology in February 2023, and Laura Trevelyan a US-based journalist turned campaigner, believes it is the King’s turn.
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‘What do you want me to say about slavery?’
She told Sky News: “His ancestors sanctioned the slave trade in people at the very beginning. And because he’s the King of England, one of the most followed monarchies in the entire world, anything that he does will be hugely significant.”
King Charles wouldn’t be the first European monarch to apologise. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands said sorry last summer for his country’s involvement in slavery.
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The statue of Edward Colston being pulled down. Pic: Jack Grey
This apology is why many believe King Charles could do similar.
One argument is that he can’t say sorry for something he didn’t do, but for campaigners, this isn’t about personal guilt, it’s about adequately addressing historic wrongs.
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Eric Phillips says the impact of colonial rule and slavery is still felt across the Caribbean.
He said: “We have so many examples, you look at the lack of technology, you look at under-development, you look at poverty. Racism was the second nuclear bomb, but slavery was the first.”
The King has signalled an eagerness to engage with the issue. He has already said much more than the late Queen.
But he must now decide if he wants to take action for the actions of his ancestors and answer the growing calls for an apology and reparations.
