King Charles' sorrow over slavery to face test in Commonwealth summit

LONDON - King Charles has since 2022 expressed sorrow for the suffering caused by slavery without crossing a line that Britain has long resisted: an apology.

That balancing act is likely to be tested at next week's Commonwealth summit in Antigua and Barbuda, where Caribbean leaders who back a reparations campaign through the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are expected to press their case.

Buckingham Palace has indicated Charles would not apologise on behalf of Britain, which has repeatedly ruled out financial reparations over its role in the transatlantic slave trade.

Speaking in the Bahamas on Tuesday ahead of a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting that begins on Sunday, Charles said it was "only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past," and said leaders from affected countries would discuss the issue at the summit.

But Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas' National Reparations Committee, said that did not go far enough. "We do not need more carefully crafted words about healing," she said in a statement. "We need action equal with the scale of the harm inflicted."

MONARCHY'S CONSTITUTIONAL CONSTRAINTS

From the 15th to the 19th century, ⁠at ​least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery ​by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the biggest slave-trading nations, according to the Transatlantic Slave Trade Database.

Alan Lester, a University of Sussex historian whose research spans the legacies of slavery and empire, said opponents of the reparations movement had "successfully weaponised" the idea that reparations simply meant writing a cheque, an idea that few Western governments will countenance.

Instead, Caribbean leaders often frame their demands in terms of debt relief, development finance, education, healthcare and climate resilience, measures they say would address inequalities rooted in slavery and colonialism.

Buckingham Palace said in 2023 that Charles had given his support to research that was examining the monarchy's links to slavery after the Guardian newspaper reported on a document showing a historical connection.

In a more recent finding, independent researcher Desiree Baptiste told Reuters her forthcoming book, "George IV, Empire, and Objects of Prestige," would cite House of Lords papers and other British government records showing that profits derived from enslaved labour helped fund furniture and decorative work commissioned by George IV at royal residences.

Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the findings.

"I think King Charles III is in a difficult position because you can express sorrow about something, but an apology goes much further," royal commentator Afua Hagan said.

- Sam Tabahriti; Editing by Sharon Singleton/Reuters