The tour will take Charles to the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where he is also due to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the committee and a psychology professor at the University of the Bahamas, said the visit should prompt people to question the country’s continued relationship with the monarchy. Why is he coming and how will that benefit us?” she said, as quoted by Associated Press. “Why do we still have a king? What does this person really represent to us?
Jamaica, which has pushed in recent years to remove Charles as head of state and become a republic like Barbados did in 2021, is not on the royal itinerary. Rastafarian Steven Bennett, 51, said a royal visit would be inappropriate while the legacy of slavery remains unaddressed.
He still refuses to formally apologise for chattel slavery,” Bennett said. “We have been suffering,” Miller said. Jamaica took its reparations case to Charles in early September, and the matter has since been referred to the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal for the Caribbean island. The legal move was unprecedented, although the British government has repeatedly rejected calls for reparations or a formal apology for slavery. For some Jamaicans, the absence reflects a growing rejection of the monarchy. “We don’t need any royal wave or photo-taking while the wounds of our ancestors are still being ignored. “Until the British monarchy is ready to stand on Jamaican soil, look us in the eye, apologise, and talk about actual repair and restitution, he has no business here. We want justice, not a parade. “We want the government to respect Indigenous rights… We have long-standing issues with our land.”
Guyana, the next stop after the Bahamas, was the site of the 1823 Demerara rebellion, one of the largest slave uprisings in the region. More than 200 enslaved people were killed in the aftermath, with some beheaded and their heads displayed on poles.
In a recent interview with ITV News, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said Charles had “rightfully recognised slavery as the darkest days in human history”. Thousands of enslaved people rose up on plantations, including one owned by the father of former British prime minister William Gladstone.