King Charles III to address Britain’s colonial past on Caribbean tour
During a Caribbean visit from Oct. 27 to Nov. 4, King Charles III will acknowledge Britain’s involvement in slavery and discuss the legacy of colonial rule, while remaining a ceremonial head of state in several islands.
King Charles III will travel to the Bahamas, Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda between Oct. 27 and Nov. 4, acknowledging Britain’s "darkest days" of colonial rule and slavery, a palace spokesperson said. The monarch, who is undergoing cancer treatment, will first make solo visits to the Bahamas and Guyana, then join Queen Camilla for a stop in Antigua and Barbuda, where he is scheduled to speak at a Commonwealth heads-of-government meeting.
"The visit will not shy away from the ‘darkest days of our past’," the spokesperson told reporters, echoing language the king used in a 2021 Barbados ceremony that marked the island’s transition to a republic. In that speech, Charles also described the "appalling atrocity of slavery" as a stain on Britain’s history. The palace said the tour aims to reaffirm the king’s “personal, wholehearted and continuing commitment” to acknowledging historical wrongs and addressing enduring inequalities. While the United Kingdom has rejected calls for formal reparations, it urged the monarch to refer legal questions about the transatlantic slave trade to the Caribbean’s highest court of appeal in London. The itinerary includes a parade in Antigua and Barbuda marking 45 years of independence, a state visit to Guyana on the 60th anniversary of its independence, meetings with local leaders, cricket legends and rainforest conservationists, and a focus on the "vibrant present and promising future" of each nation.