PARIS (AFP) - King Charles III began a Caribbean tour in the Bahamas Tuesday where he acknowledged “the great suffering of the past” in the face of pressure to apologize for the slave trade.
The 77-year-old king, who is receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, will also highlight climate threats facing low-lying islands during his visit to three countries in nine days.
He will first make visits to the Bahamas and Guyana, for the final leg in Antigua and Barbuda, where he will address a Commonwealth heads of government (CHOGM) summit.
He said leaders of “affected” Commonwealth nations would be discussing the issue in Antigua and Barbuda next week where the issue of reparations for slavery will be on the table according to Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
Several of the former colonies have demanded the king take a new step toward making amends for colonization and the transatlantic slave trade, from which his ancestors profited for centuries.
As he arrived at the rally held at the historic site where The Bahamas officially gained its independence in 1973, protesters gathered to wave placards reading “pay what you owe us.”
Last month Jamaica – where Charles remains head of state – filed a petition in an appeals court in London “to advance Jamaica’s push for reparations for the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement.”
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali, who is to meet with Charles during the visit, told ITV News the king’s recognition of the “darkest days” was just the “first step.”
“Now, moving to the apology is the next step,” said Ali, demanding accountability from the former empire which he said “exploited the region,” “destroyed lives” and “created under development.”
Modern monarchs have to various degrees expressed remorse for Britain’s central role in chattel slavery, but none has yet formally apologized. The debt-laden UK government has balked at the idea of financial compensation.