Facts
- King Charles III is touring the Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda over nine days, facing demands that Britain apologize for slavery and pay reparations, the Associated Press reported on October 28, 2026.
- Palace officials say Charles will repeat earlier remarks that slavery was an ‘atrocity that forever stains our history,’ but will not apologize, according to the AP.
- At a youth rally in Nassau on Tuesday, Charles said it is only right to acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past.
- Craig Prescott, a constitutional law expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, told the AP the matter is not for the king. He said longstanding government policy is that slavery is a stain on British history but that reparations are not payable. The AP reported that reparations could cost the U.K. hundreds of billions of pounds.
- In March, the UN General Assembly approved a resolution calling for reparatory justice, including a full apology and compensation. The U.K. abstained, the AP reported.
- Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caribbean Community’s reparations commission, urged Charles to respond personally rather than as a representative of the government.
- Brooke Newman of Virginia Commonwealth University, author of ‘The Crown’s Silence,’ told the AP that Queen Elizabeth I backed an early slave-trading venture and later monarchs invested in the Royal African Company. She called the Palace’s expected language ‘hollow.’
- The final four days of the tour are in Antigua and Barbuda, which is hosting a biannual meeting of Commonwealth leaders. The Commonwealth has 56 member nations, and the British monarch is head of state for 14 countries besides the U.K., the AP reported.
Quotes
King Charles III, at a youth rally in Nassau, said: “It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past.”
Craig Prescott, Royal Holloway, University of London, said: “It’s not a matter for the king, in that sense.”
Hilary Beckles, Caribbean Community reparations commission, said: “I’m appealing to Charles Windsor, a parent, a grandparent, a man today.”
Brooke Newman, Virginia Commonwealth University, said the Palace’s expected language “doesn’t create dialogue.”
Source Read the Associated Press report on PBS NewsHour here.
Image King Charles III (July 2023), public domain.
