King Charles Acknowledges Injustices of Slavery, Says Commonwealth Leaders Will Discuss Issue

King Charles has acknowledged the injustices of slavery and said Commonwealth leaders would discuss the issue at their summit the following week, Reuters reported on October 28.

The remarks come against a long-running debate over the British role in slavery. Before the trip, Buckingham Palace said on October 2 that the King would not shy away from the issue during his Caribbean tour, according to Reuters. The BBC reported at the time that he was expected to face renewed calls to apologise for the UK's role in the transatlantic slave trade, the forced transport of enslaved people across the Atlantic. Craig Prescott said the King would not apologise during the tour, because he speaks on behalf of the elected government and not for himself.

The tour includes visits to The Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda, according to The New York Times. The visits to The Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda are royal visits, while the trip to Guyana is a state visit, a more formal type of royal trip. Queen Camilla accompanied the King on the tour, People reported. The King is also due to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, known as CHOGM, the summit of leaders from the Commonwealth, a group of countries largely made up of former British territories, in Antigua and Barbuda. Al Jazeera reported that the King would attend.

Reparations, meaning payments or other forms of redress for historical wrongs, have been a central demand in the region. Caribbean leaders were expected to press the case for slavery reparations during the King's tour in late October, Reuters reported on October 30.