Caribbean tour: Charles faces pressure on apology

King Charles III arrived in Guyana on Thursday, the third stop of a nine-day Caribbean tour, as campaigners pressed the monarchy to issue a formal apology for its role in the transatlantic slave trade and to back reparations.

The king opened the tour Tuesday in the Bahamas, telling hundreds of young Bahamians that Britain's colonial past must be reckoned with. "It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond," he said.

Charles joined a Junkanoo street parade in Nassau on Wednesday, where performers in feathered headdresses filled the route. Protesters nearby carried placards reading: "Pay us what you owe us."

Dr. Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, chair of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, told The Guardian the monarch's remarks amounted to "hollow platitudes" and added, "we deserve so much more than what was offered."

Buckingham Palace says decisions on reparations rest with the British government rather than the royal family, while noting Charles will not step back from discussions of Britain's role. Experts point to the legal stakes: between the 15th and 19th centuries, more than 2 million enslaved Africans reached British colonies, and in 1834 Parliament allocated £20 million, about $23 billion in today's money by one estimate, to compensate slave owners rather than the enslaved. King Charles II and his brother James invested in the Royal African Company, which trafficked enslaved people across the Atlantic.

Esther Stanford-Xosei, a lawyer and reparations expert, told CBS News in 2023 that a formal apology would carry legal weight. "The reason why he doesn't go further is that he's aware [of] what it will mean to actually apologize, in terms of the legal obligation to make reparation," she said.

On Wednesday, Charles was scheduled to travel from Guyana to Antigua and Barbuda for a Commonwealth heads of government meeting, where leaders are expected to take up slavery's legacy. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called for reparations directed at education, healthcare and economic development, and Hilary Beckles, who leads the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission, said Caribbean people want "proprietary justice, beginning with remorse." Not all regional voices agree: Barbadian economist Rasheed Griffiths said the demands are "nothing more than Caribbean leaders attempting to externalize their own failures" and "should not be taken seriously by anyone, least of all the U.K. public."

Charles described slavery as an "appalling atrocity" in 2021 during Barbados's transition to a republic. In 2022, Prince William expressed "profound sorrow" over slavery during a Caribbean tour but stopped short of an apology. Several nations on this tour, including the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, remain constitutional monarchies with Charles as head of state.