Royal Family receives troubling update over historic reparations movement weeks before Caribbean tour
King Charles could face another major challenge to his reign as preparations continue for a crucial royal tour of the Caribbean this autumn.
Buckingham Palace announced last week that the monarch and his wife, Queen Camilla, will travel to The Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda.
The Caribbean has proved challenging for the Royal Family in recent years, particularly following the public-relations controversy surrounding Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 2022 tour.
Just as the Firm may have hoped to improve relations in the region, the sensitive debate over slavery reparations has resurfaced.
Jamaica’s Culture Minister, Olivia Grange, is leading a delegation to London to formally submit a historic slavery reparations petition to the King. The move would mark the first time a Commonwealth nation has formally pursued such a case.
Jamaica, a British colony until 1962, was a major hub of the transatlantic slave trade. As many as one million Africans were transported to the Caribbean island between the 1500s and the 1800s.
Grange said the petition was being presented to the King “in his capacity as head of state of Jamaica and from whom we expect protection”.
She also highlighted the historical significance of September 6, 1781, when a slave ship left West Africa for Jamaica carrying 442 enslaved Africans. Of those on board, 142 were killed.
The UK has repeatedly rejected calls to pay reparations in recent years, leaving the monarch in the difficult position of deciding whether to address the issue publicly.
A programme has been organised to coincide with the petition’s submission, which Grange described as a “milestone moment in Jamaica’s history”.
“As members of the Commonwealth, our citizens are exercising their right to petition the King to ask him to refer the issue of slavery reparations to the Privy Council,” she said. “We look forward to a positive programme of engagement around this issue.”
