King Charles Caribbean tour faces reparations calls

King Charles III is beginning a Caribbean tour overshadowed by calls for an apology and reparations over colonisation and the transatlantic slave trade.

The 77-year-old king, who is receiving treatment for an undisclosed form of cancer, is due to visit the Bahamas and Guyana alone before Queen Camilla joins him in Antigua and Barbuda. The nine-day trip includes an address to a Commonwealth heads of government summit.

Buckingham Palace said the programme would not avoid what Charles has called the “darkest days” of the past. Several former colonies have called for a new step toward redress.

Jamaica, where Charles remains head of state, filed a petition in a London appeals court last month “to advance Jamaica's push for reparations for the African ancestors who suffered under hundreds of years of enslavement”.

Guyana's President Irfaan Ali told ITV News that the king's recognition of the “darkest days” was a “first step” and that an apology should come next.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey told Sky News that it “wouldn't hurt” for the king to apologise. She also said the time had come to discuss reparations, including financial payments or other forms of redress.

Buckingham Palace has described the tour as a chance to look forward, meet young people and discuss issues including climate change. The Commonwealth summit in St John's is expected to focus on investment, trade and climate resilience, with reparatory justice also on the table.