The King has told Commonwealth leaders the transatlantic slave trade “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, but did not offer an apology.
In his address to presidents and prime ministers at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, Charles said his commitment was growing to find ways to “address the wrongs of the past with action for the future”.
The run up to the gathering of the 56 member states, which comprise mostly former British colonies, has been dominated by talk of whether Britain should apologise or pay reparations for the role it played in the transatlantic slave trade.
He delivered his speech on Tuesday against the background of UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham announcing a change in long-established government policy and making an offer of talks on a slavery apology but not financial reparations.
“Our history inspires us, can appal us, yet it can always teach us. We cannot change the actions of those who came before us. We can, however, learn from the past,” he said.
“The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth … that shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow.
“And yet history also teaches us that evil need not have the last word; that character and courage can combine to overcome the most monstrous injustice, as they did with the determination to end international trade in enslaved people, in which the Royal Navy played such a leading role.” he said.
“The more I have furthered my own understanding of the issues, through listening, learning and looking, the more committed I have become to finding ways for us to work in modern partnership to address the wrongs of the past with action for the future.”
Charles also told the gathering of world leaders: “History is not ours to choose or to change. It is bequeathed to us in complex synthesis by forebears we can never know.
“Our inheritance includes both their achievements and their failures – the good they did as well as the wrongs.”
Calls for an apology and reparations from the UK have been growing in recent years and St Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J Pierre, chairman of the 15-member Caribbean Community. has reportedly said the economic and political bloc was “ready to engage” in the structured dialogue Burnham offered.
Burnham has also gone further than his predecessors by saying he was open to Britain apologising for slavery and officials were holding talks with national leaders at the summit to discuss what form that could take.
with Reuters
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
