King Charles urged to take action on slavery atrocities and address ‘historic wrongs’

King Charles remains “personally and wholeheartedly committed” to finding ways to address “historic wrongs” around slavery, the Palace has said. 

The statement was issued in response to news that a Caribbean delegation is set to deliver demands for reparations to the King. 

Envoys from Jamaica and other former British colonies are set to petition the monarch to help their campaign to receive compensation for the slave trade from Britain after arriving in the UK. 

Charles, 77, who is head of state of Jamaica, will be asked to refer their questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC), including whether Britain has a legal duty to provide redress. However, it is not his personal decision to make a referral. 

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Olivia Grange, the country’s culture minister, said it could pave the way for a “long outstanding settlement for the hundreds of years of the most horrific abuse that our African ancestors endured”.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty has on many occasions expressed his personal and wholehearted commitment to promoting greater understanding around the issue of slavery and finding ways to address historic wrongs for the benefit of communities today. 

“As he stated in a landmark speech to Commonwealth Leaders (in 2024): ‘I understand, from listening to people across the Commonwealth, how the most painful aspects of our past continue to resonate…none of us can change the past. But we can commit, with all our hearts, to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure.'”

What are the delegations seeking from the King?

Slavery was abolished in 1833, and Britain paid £20 million in compensation to slave owners, with the loans for this paid off in 2015. 

Britain is now facing global calls to engage in reparations and to recognise hundreds of years of transatlantic slavery. 

Olivia Grange said: “Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters, because we were being considered property.

“The question really should be: if in modern times we’re still paying back the slave masters for the property that was our people, our ancestors, for property that was because of the abolition of slavery, then why shouldn’t we be pursuing some remedy at this time?”

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She is also set to meet with officials at the British Museum to discuss artifacts that were taken from Jamaica during the colonial period. 

The palace spokesman added: “We understand the Jamaican government is seeking a petition to be heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. 

“The process for seeking a petition is to lodge it with the Judicial Committee so that referral under section four of the 1833 Act can be considered. 

“We also understand the Jamaican representatives will be received by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office for bilateral discussions.”

King Charles’s busy autumn schedule revealed

There is also planned advocacy at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Antigua in November, which King Charles is scheduled to attend as part of his autumn tour. 

The King returned to work last week after his summer holiday in Balmoral, hosting the Pakistan National Cricket Team at Clarence House, alongside attending a garden party and viewing the Bayeux Tapestry. 

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Over the weekend, he returned to Scotland to attend the Braemar Gathering and to host Prime Minister Andy Burnham for the first time.

In late October, Charles and Queen Camilla will tour Antigua and Barbuda ahead of their attendance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

The King will undertake a Royal Visit to The Bahamas, where he is also Head of State, before making a state visit to Guyana.