Commonwealth secretary urges King Charles to apologise for slavery ahead of Caribbean tour

Ahead of King Charles’s upcoming Caribbean tour, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said an apology for slavery would not hurt and reflects the wishes of member states. The monarch will travel to the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, delivering speeches as head of the Commonwealth and attending a Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting where reparations are likely to be debated. While the king is expected to acknowledge the historic slave trade, Buckingham Palace has indicated he will stop short of a formal apology.

Caribbean activists and envoys from former British colonies have already petitioned the monarch to support their reparations campaign. Botchwey emphasized that the form of reparations—whether financial or in-kind—should be decided collectively by the countries involved.