King Charles faces mounting pressure from reparations campaigners in The Bahamas, who have warned him not to come “empty-handed” ahead of his Autumn Tour of the Caribbean next month.
The Bahamas National Reparations Committee (BNRC) has urged the 77-year-old monarch to issue a formal apology for the Crown’s historic role in the Transatlantic slave trade when he visits the island nation.
The BNRC intends to invite the King to a meeting during his trip, where the committee plans to set out its ambitions for The Bahamas to sever ties with the monarchy and transition to a republic, according to The Mirror.
It comes just weeks after Antigua and Barbuda announced it had also dropped its oath of allegiance to the King, removing him as head of state, and instead pledging their commitment to the state of Antigua and Barbuda itself.
Dr Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, who chairs the BNRC, insisted the King “should come prepared to apologise for the horrific legacy.”
“The link between the British Crown and slavery is undeniable. For King Charles to come to our island and not be prepared to apologise for the wrongs of the past is unacceptable,” Dr Campbell-Dean told the newspaper.
“The Bahamas stands at a crucial time in our history, 53 years after independence, but the underdevelopment of the country alongside a public health crisis and climate change affecting our everyday way of life, the time for change is now and reparations are a huge part of redirecting our future.”
The committee maintains that the British Crown was the single greatest beneficiary of the slave trade and bears an obligation to provide compensation for its lasting economic and social consequences.
King Charles faces mounting pressure from reparations campaigners in The Bahamas, who have warned him not to come ’empty-handed’ ahead of his autumn tour to the Caribbean next month
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REUTERS
“This is not an assault or an attack on his visit, but we are still being made to pick up the bill for him to come,” Dr Campbell-Deane added.
But she concluded: “An apology would be the first step towards justice and reparations must follow.”
The King and Queen will embark on their Autumn Tour between October 27 and November 4, visiting in The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, and Guyana.
The King and Queen will embark on their Autumn Tour between October 27 and November 4, visiting in The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, and Guyana
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PA
Buckingham Palace has in recent years recognised the Crown’s historical links to slavery as “abhorrent,” while the King has expressed support for scholarly investigation into the monarchy’s connections to slavery and opened the Royal Archives to researchers.
Yet the Palace has not issued the formal apology that campaigners across the Commonwealth continue to demand.
Questions over reparations now loom over the wider Commonwealth. At last year’s heads of government gathering in Samoa, the King acknowledged that the past “continues to resonate” but encouraged leaders to seek “the right language” rather than pledging compensation.
The King’s forthcoming trip to The Bahamas – his first since acceding to the throne in September 2022 – includes the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, which he will attend with the Queen.
King Charles hosted Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, at Buckingham Palace in 2022
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The Palace has said the eight-day tour will “celebrate communities, cultures and nature within the Commonwealth family.”
King Charles is no stranger to the politics of post-colonial transition. In November 2021, he was present in Barbados as the country formally removed his late mother as head of state, remarking that “the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history.”
The Prince and Princess of Wales encountered street protests during their own Caribbean tour in 2022, with William describing slavery as “abhorrent” and declaring “it should never have happened” – though again without offering an apology.