King Charles will confront what Buckingham Palace described as "the darkest days of our past” when he visits the Caribbean later this month, amid renewed calls for Britain to address its role in the transatlantic slave trade.
Charles and Queen Camilla will visit the Bahamas and Guyana before traveling to Antigua and Barbuda, where the king will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), scheduled for Nov. 1-4.
The visit comes as Caribbean and African countries intensify calls for Britain and other former colonial powers to pay reparations for their role in slavery. The issue is expected to feature prominently at the Commonwealth summit.
The British government has ruled out reparations, while Charles, who remains head of state of several Caribbean nations, including the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, has previously expressed his sorrow over the legacy of slavery.
"There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told reporters, saying the visit was coming at an important time in the relationship between Britain and Caribbean nations.
"The visit program will therefore not shy away from ‘the darkest days of our past,’ as His Majesty has described them, but, in keeping with the wishes of our host nations, it will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country.”
From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European merchants, with Britain responsible for transporting an estimated 3.2 million people, making it the second-most active European nation after Portugal.
Charles, who is head of the Commonwealth, a group of 56 nations, mainly former British colonies, encompassing some 2.7 billion people, has backed research into the British monarchy’s own historical links to the trade.
Last month, the Jamaican government formally asked him to seek legal advice on whether Britain should pay reparations and said it was "encouraged” by Buckingham Palace’s engagement.
"It is important to note here the work His Majesty himself has done over many years both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to right inequalities that endure,” the palace spokesperson said.
"As you would therefore expect, opportunities will be found during the visit to reflect and renew his personal, wholehearted and continuing commitment to that process.”
In February, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey told Reuters she expected its members to make progress toward beginning negotiations on reparations.