World

King Charles Begins Nine‑Day Caribbean Visit Amid Calls for Slavery Reparations

By Mariem Bah

King Charles III has begun a nine‑day tour of the Caribbean, starting in the Bahamas on Tuesday. The itinerary will take him to the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) from November 1‑4. The trip comes as demands for reparations for Britain’s role in the slave trade grow louder and the monarchy faces questions about its future in the region.

The tour will last nine days. Charles will spend three days in the Bahamas, then travel to Guyana for two days, where he is expected to meet the president and elected leaders of Amerindian villages. He will finish in Antigua and Barbuda for CHOGM, which will discuss climate resilience, trade and development and is likely to include the issue of British reparations for slavery.

The countries on the itinerary have expressed a desire to become republics. In the Bahamas, 51 % of respondents in a 2023 Lord Ashcroft Poll said they wanted a republic, while 27 % preferred to keep the monarchy. Niambi Hall Campbell‑Dean, chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, questioned the relevance of a king’s visit.

Guyana’s president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, told ITV News that while Charles had recognised slavery as the “darkest days in human history” during a 2021 visit to Barbados, an apology should be the next step. He said the British Empire “exploited the region, destroyed lives and created underdevelopment.”

Jamaica, which is not on Charles’s itinerary, filed a $10 bn slavery reparations petition in London in September, addressed to the king. The petition will be heard by a UK privy council in March next year. CARICOM Secretary‑General Carla Barnett said reparations are “fundamentally about justice” and “building a just and equitable future for the descendants of those who endured untold suffering.”

The UN declared the transatlantic slave trade the “gravest crime against humanity” in a March resolution.

At CHOGM, leaders of 56 Commonwealth countries will meet. Many want an apology for slavery from the king, but Buckingham Palace said an apology will not be part of the visit. A palace spokesperson said the programme will not shy away from the “darkest days of our past” but will focus on the present and future of each country.

Labour MP Bell Ribeiro‑Addy, chair of the UK All‑Party Parliamentary Group for Afrikan Reparations, said the royal family and the UK government have failed to recognise the demands for reparations. She urged the king to understand that platitudes are insufficient and that the Commonwealth’s future depends on addressing these issues.