King Charles Caribbean tour amid slavery apology calls
King Charles is due to begin a nine-day Caribbean tour on Tuesday, 27 October, and will follow government advice not to issue a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade during the visit, according to The Guardian.
The trip starts in the Bahamas and continues to Guyana before the King travels to Antigua and Barbuda. There he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, known as Chogm, a gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth, the association of countries that were largely part of the British Empire. The meeting runs from 1 to 4 November in St John's. King Charles, as Head of the Commonwealth, is set to address its opening ceremony on 3 November, according to the Commonwealth's own website. The King and Queen will visit Antigua and Barbuda together, and the Royal Family calls the trip The King and Queen's Autumn Tour.
The Guardian reports that the King is expected to give three significant speeches during the tour. Buckingham Palace has said the King would not shy away from Britain's role in slavery during visits to Commonwealth nations, but would not issue an apology, according to an earlier Guardian report.
The apology question is one of several threads. Caribbean leaders and groups have called on the King to formally apologise for slavery during his visit to Guyana, the Guardian reported. Earlier this year, MPs, experts and campaigners made the same call after research highlighted the role of the Crown, meaning the monarchy and the state. The British government has ruled out paying reparations, which are compensation for past wrongs.
Campaigners have warned that the tour could speed up moves to remove King Charles as head of state in several countries, unless he does more to confront the monarchy's historic links to slavery. A head of state is the formal leader of a country, and in several Commonwealth realms the monarch holds that role.
At the United Nations, a resolution tabled by Ghana, meaning put forward for a vote, declared the transatlantic slave trade the gravest crime against humanity and called for reparatory justice. Separately, Jamaica's petition seeking slavery reparations from King Charles is due to be heard by the UK-based Privy Council, which advises the monarch, next March.
