King Charles faces Caribbean protests over slavery legacy

King Charles III is on a nine-day tour of the Caribbean that has brought renewed demands for the British monarchy to answer for its part in the transatlantic slave trade. The tour began in the Bahamas on October 27 and takes in Guyana before ending in Antigua and Barbuda, where the King will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from November 1 to 4, according to Al Jazeera.

A palace spokesperson said the programme would not avoid "the darkest days of our past" but, at the wish of the host countries, would mainly look to "the vibrant present and promising future" of each nation, Al Jazeera reported.

The King's first speech

Speaking in the Bahamas on the first day, the King said it was "only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering of the past in these islands and beyond", according to the BBC and The Guardian. He also said Commonwealth leaders would take up matters relating to the legacy of slavery at the summit in Antigua, The Guardian reported.

Campaigners said this was not enough. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee said in a statement that the King's words "fall short of what justice requires", which it described as a full and formal apology, according to The Guardian.

Calls for an apology and reparations

Activists are seeking a formal apology and reparations for the enslavement of their ancestors, The Guardian reports. High Priest Richmond McKinney, a Rastafarian leader who organised a protest during the King's visit to the Bahamas, told the paper that regret for slavery was "not good enough" and that he wanted a full apology.

Guyana's President Irfaan Ali has said that the King, who in 2021 called slavery among the "darkest days" of human history, should make an apology his next step, according to Al Jazeera. Jamaica filed a $10 billion slavery reparations petition addressed to the King in September, Al Jazeera reported; The Guardian says the UK-based Privy Council is due to hear it next March.

A test for the Commonwealth

Cultural historian Patrick Vernon told The Guardian the visit was "pivotal" and called it the biggest crossroads for the Commonwealth since its creation, asking what the organisation was for if it could not hold a proper dialogue on slavery. Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy said the monarchy could not go on offering platitudes, and pointed out that the Dutch king had apologised without harm to his institution, according to The Guardian.

The British government has ruled out paying reparations. Al Jazeera reported that Buckingham Palace had said there would be no apology during the tour, and The Guardian reported that the King follows government advice, which has not been to apologise. Officials in the Bahamas and in Antigua and Barbuda, where the King is still head of state, have signalled that they want to become republics, according to Al Jazeera.