King Charles Tells Commonwealth Leaders Slavery’s Horrors Strengthen His Resolve to Address Past Wrongs

St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda: King Charles told Commonwealth leaders on Tuesday that his deepening understanding of the horrors of slavery had made him more determined to address the wrongs of the past, while urging them to look to the future and ensure that “evil need not have the last word”.

The build-up to the gathering of the Commonwealth’s 56 member states, most of them former British colonies, has been dominated by debate over whether Britain should apologise or pay reparations for its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Neither the King nor the British government has offered such an apology or discussed reparations. However, both Charles and new Prime Minister Andy Burnham have spoken of using the Commonwealth to meet present-day needs by providing support in areas such as climate change, education and health.

“We cannot change the actions of those who came before us,” Charles, who serves as Head of the Commonwealth, said in his opening address to leaders. “We can, however, learn from the past.”

“The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth. As I have said before, that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow,” he added.

History as a Teacher

The King said that the more he had read, listened and learned about slavery, the more committed he had become to finding ways for member countries to build modern partnerships capable of addressing historic injustices.

“Our history inspires us, can appal us, yet it can always teach us,” he said.

He identified access to education, employment and opportunity, along with intra-Commonwealth trade and resilience to climate change, as ways of supporting those “who struggle against hardship and disadvantage”.

In line with that approach, Prime Minister Burnham said he would discuss debt resets for smaller Commonwealth nations, and announced a £40 million ($54 million) investment in critical infrastructure across the Caribbean over the next three years.

Burnham has also gone further than his predecessors by signalling that he is open to Britain issuing an apology for slavery. Officials are holding talks with national leaders at the summit to discuss what form such an apology might take.

Growing Calls for Reparations

In recent decades, calls have intensified for former colonial powers including Portugal, Britain and France to consider reparations for the transatlantic slave trade, during which an estimated 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery between the 15th and 19th centuries.

According to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, Britain transported an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the largest slave-trading nations.

CARICOM, the Caribbean Community grouping of 23 member and associate member states including the Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica, had been pressing for reparations to be placed on the agenda of the Commonwealth meeting.