King Charles faces calls for apology, slavery reparations on Caribbean tour

King Charles III arrived in the Bahamas on Tuesday as part of a more than week-long trip to the Caribbean, to calls for an apology and slavery reparations.

The visit marks his first official trip to the Bahamas as king, during which the government closed all public schools on the island of New Providence to welcome him.

The Bahamian police and armed forces greeted the King in lockstep.

King Charles arrived wearing a light gray suit and sunglasses as he met with Governor General Dame Cynthia A. Pratt and Prime Minister Philip Davis.

King Charles then visited Clifford Park. The last time he was there in an official capacity was as the Prince of Wales in 1973, when he granted the Bahamas independence after 300 years under the rule of the British Empire.

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Members of the Bahamas’ Rastafarian community and others gathered near the park in protest, where they called for reparations. “Pay us what you owe us!” one woman shouted, the Associated Press reported.

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“I stand in memory of the horrors and the atrocities committed against Black people,” she added, according to the U.S. agency.

The King was also greeted by crowds of cheering people who waved flags ahead of an event where children sang and played music.

King Charles acknowledged Britain’s dark ties to the region and the role the country has played in the suffering of its people.

“We know that some of what is best in Bahamian culture today, the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright, was born out of darkness,” he said during public remarks.

“It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present,” he continued.

Jamaica has also called for reparations in recent times, and the case has since been referred to the U.K’s highest court of appeal.

The British government has repeatedly rejected demands for either an apology or reparations in connection with the slave trade.

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While in the Bahamas, King Charles is also expected to visit a nature site and meet with the Bahamian defence forces, government officials and civil society leaders to discuss environmental struggles throughout the archipelago, including the construction of a sea wall.

During his speech, King Charles acknowledged the climate challenges that the Bahamas and other nations face.

“We cannot escape the fact that the journey ahead contains some treacherous shoals, in particular in an island nation where 90 per cent of the land sits below two meters,” King Charles said. “There is perhaps nowhere better than the Bahamas to understand the reality of climate change.”

The King is scheduled to spend three days in the Bahamas before travelling to Guyana, another former British colony, whose president has said he wants an apology.

— with files from the Associated Press

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