King Charles Will Not Shy Away From Slavery Legacy During Caribbean Tour, but No Formal Apology, Palace Says

LONDON – King Charles will address Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade during his visit to the Caribbean later this month, but he will not issue a formal apology, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.

The King and Queen Camilla will visit the Bahamas and Guyana before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda. There, the King will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which runs from November 1 to 4.

A palace spokesperson told reporters that the tour comes at an important moment in relations between Britain and Caribbean nations, with discussions under way in several forums on colonial legacy and the lasting, intergenerational impact of the slave trade. The spokesperson said the visit would include opportunities for the King to reaffirm his personal and continuing commitment to that process.

The spokesperson said the programme would not avoid what the King has called “the darkest days of our past”. However, in line with the wishes of the host countries, it would focus mainly on each nation’s present and future. The palace also highlighted the King’s long-standing efforts to acknowledge historical wrongs and to find practical ways to address inequalities that persist today.

On the question of apologies and reparations, the palace said these were matters for the British government rather than the monarch. The government has ruled out paying reparations. The King, who remains head of state of several Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, has previously expressed his personal sorrow over slavery.

The tour comes amid growing demands from Caribbean and African nations for Britain and other former colonial powers to pay reparations for slavery, an issue expected to feature prominently at this year’s CHOGM. Last month, the Jamaican government formally asked the King to seek legal advice on whether Britain should pay reparations and said it was encouraged by the palace’s engagement on the issue.

As head of the Commonwealth, a grouping of 56 countries, mostly former British colonies, with a combined population of about 2.7 billion, the King has also supported independent research into the British monarchy’s own historical ties to the slave trade.