Britain’s King Charles looks on during a visit to The Bahamas Boxing Academy in Nassau.
UK government rules out formal apology
He and Queen Camilla are scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which brings together leaders from 56 nations. The Caribbean Community, known as Caricom, which has 23 member and associate member states, also said last month that it would push for reparations to be discussed at CHOGM. When slavery was abolished in Britain in 1834, the government compensated slave owners an amount equivalent to £17 billion ($22.5 billion), according to research by University College London.
Because slavery was not illegal when it was practised, uK Foreign Office sources have told CNN that there is no legal case for reparations.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey said last week that the time had come to discuss reparations. Asked by Sky News whether the king should apologise for Britain’s role in the slave trade, she said, “It wouldn’t hurt to have that. “The Caribbean has consistently asserted that reparations is fundamentally about justice,” Caricom Secretary-General Carla Barnett said. Despite the pressure, Buckingham Palace has said Charles will not issue an apology during the tour, arguing that such matters are “matters for governments to address”.
Charles will also visit Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda during the tour. “It is about recognition, accountability and transformation, and about building a just and equitable future for the descendants of those who, as the chattel of colonial owners, endured untold suffering, loss of life and freedom. The palace added that he would “not shy away from the darkest days of our past. As monarch, Charles represents Britain abroad on the advice of the government. Enslaved people received no compensation.