King Charles III faces fresh calls for a slavery apology ahead of his Caribbean tour

King Charles III is days away from a high-profile trip to the Caribbean, and the pressure on him to apologize for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade grew louder this week. On Thursday, Oct. 22, the head of the Commonwealth said an apology “wouldn’t hurt,” and the chair of the Caribbean’s reparations commission made a personal appeal to the king. Buckingham Palace, for its part, has signaled that no formal apology is coming.

Where is King Charles going?

The king and Queen Camilla are set to travel to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, known as CHOGM, with visits to the Bahamas and Guyana, as part of an eight-day trip starting Oct. 27, BBC News reported. Charles is the head of the Commonwealth, a group of mostly former British territories.

The palace has said the tour will “principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country,” but also that it will not shy away from “the darkest days of our past,” according to the BBC.

What did the Commonwealth chief say?

Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey told Sky News that a formal apology from the king “wouldn’t hurt,” according to GB News and The Guardian. Asked directly whether the king should apologize, she said, “That’s what the countries have asked for.” Pressed on her own view, she added: “It wouldn’t hurt to have that. Not at all.”

On reparations, she said the moment for a serious conversation had arrived. “I don’t believe we can run away from it. But it is important to determine the form that reparations should take, and that is something that will emerge eventually,” she said, per GB News. She mentioned concessional financing, debt treatment, climate issues and the return of cultural artifacts as possible non-cash forms, and said the final shape would be for member countries to decide.

The ‘human brother’ appeal

At a press conference ahead of the summit, Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) Reparations Commission, appealed to Charles not as monarch but as “a parent, a grandparent, a man today who reflects upon the history of his family,” The Guardian reported. Calling him “a human brother,” Beckles urged the king to help make the Commonwealth a “moral institution committed to human justice” and described the upcoming summit as “the Chogm of reparations.”

Eric Phillips, who heads Guyana’s reparations committee, also called for an apology. “We in Guyana say, long live the king, so he can apologize and call for reparations,” he said, according to The Guardian.

What has the palace said?

Palace aides have made clear the king will not offer a formal apology for the Crown’s historical involvement in the slave trade, GB News reported, while saying the royal family would “not shy away from the darkest days of our past.” According to the PA news agency, cited by the BBC, the British government has not advised the king to apologize or offer reparations.

A palace spokesperson told the BBC that these issues are “primarily matters for Governments to address,” and noted that the king has previously described slavery as an “atrocity” which “forever stains our history.” The UK government’s position is that it “will not pay reparations,” a spokesman said, per GB News.

A packed week for the king

The apology debate comes on the heels of a state visit to Britain by Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, the first by an Omani sultan in 44 years, Al Jazeera reported. At a Windsor Castle banquet on Tuesday, Charles praised Oman as “a trusted interlocutor to all parties” amid conflict in the Middle East and its efforts to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

What’s next?

Campaigners in Antigua and Barbuda say they expect reparations to be raised at the summit’s major forums, and The Guardian reported that a draft summit communique has not yet won unanimous agreement on language about advancing those talks. Whether the king’s remarks on the tour go further than his earlier statements of “personal sorrow” remains to be seen.

FAQ

Will King Charles apologize for slavery? Palace aides have indicated he will not issue a formal apology, though the tour is expected to acknowledge the “darkest days” of the past.

When is the king’s Caribbean trip? An eight-day trip beginning Oct. 27, covering the Bahamas, Guyana and the Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda, according to the BBC.

Does the UK pay slavery reparations? No. A UK government spokesman said, “we do not and will not pay reparations.”