King Charles set to address colonial rule and slavery on Caribbean tour
King Charles will acknowledge what Buckingham Palace called the “darkest days” of colonial rule and slavery during a Caribbean tour from 27 October to 4 November. He will visit the Bahamas and Guyana alone before joining Queen Camilla in Antigua and Barbuda, amid continuing debate over reparations and the monarchy’s legacy.
King Charles will address the history of colonial rule and slavery during a Caribbean tour beginning later this month, Buckingham Palace said on Friday. The king will visit the Bahamas and Guyana alone before travelling with Queen Camilla to Antigua and Barbuda. The tour will run from 27 October to 4 November and will include a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government.
A palace spokesman said the visit would not avoid what Charles has previously called the “darkest days of our past”. In a 2021 speech in Barbados, he referred to the “appalling atrocity of slavery” and said it stained Britain’s history. The palace said Charles would renew his “personal, wholehearted and continuing commitment” to acknowledging past wrongs and addressing inequalities that remain.
It said discussions of colonial history and the slave trade were important, while adding that they were primarily matters for governments. The tour comes as Caribbean governments and campaigners continue to debate slavery reparations. The British government reiterated last month that it rejected calls for payments after a Jamaican delegation petitioned Charles on the issue and asked him to refer questions about the legality of the transatlantic slave trade to the region’s highest court of appeal in London.
Modern British royals have expressed remorse for the slave trade, but neither the monarch nor the UK government has issued an official apology, according to the supplied material. Previous royal visits have faced anti-monarchy protests and demands for reparations. Charles remains head of state of the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, where the role is largely ceremonial.
Guyana is a republic, and the king’s visit there will mark the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain. The programme will also include events with cricket figures in Antigua and Barbuda and conservationists working in Guyana’s rainforest. The palace said the tour would focus on each country’s present and future as well as its history.
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