King Charles’ support for research into links between the monarchy and slavery threatens to fuel calls for reparations, critics warned last night.
Buckingham Palace yesterday announced it was cooperating in a groundbreaking investigation into the monarchy’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and said the king took the matter “very seriously”.
The inquiry is expected to analyze past rulers’ involvement in slave-trading businesses, including the Royal African Company and its deputy governor, Edward Colston, whose statue was thrown into Bristol harbor by anti-racism protesters.
Charles’ support for the academic work carried out by the University of Manchester with historic royal palaces has been welcomed by researchers and campaigners. But others feared it could open the door for the royal family and government facing demands to pay compensation or reparations for their role in the slave trade and colonialism.
Buckingham Palace announced yesterday that it was cooperating in a groundbreaking investigation into the monarchy’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, saying the king took the matter “very seriously” (the king and queen were photographed last month)
The inquiry is expected to analyze past rulers’ involvement in slave-trading businesses, including the Royal African Company and its deputy governor, Edward Colston, whose statue was thrown into Bristol harbor by anti-racism protesters (pictured as it happened in June 2020).
In the past, there have been calls for the royal family to pay reparations on the grounds that previous generations of the monarchy profited from the slave trade. Britain’s largest black newspaper, The Voice, last year called on the royal family to apologize and make reparations following backlash from readers over its decision to let Charles “guest edit” an edition.
Last night there were immediate calls from Caribbean campaigners for new reparations talks. Arley Gill, from Grenada’s National Reparations Commission, said: ‘The Royal Family must make reparation and reconciliation for the people and societies that would have suffered from their involvement in the slave trade. Reparations can no longer be swept under the royal garb of the Royal House.’
But former Tory MP Harvey Proctor called for reparations to be paid by Charles personally, not the state.
He said: “Payment of any reparations should not come from the state. Otherwise we would have to sue the French for the damage caused by the Norman Conquest in 1066 and comparable to the US for the price of lost tea in Boston Harbor.”
Historian Rafe Heydel-Mankoo told GB News: ‘Only 3 percent of Britain’s economy around 1770 had any relation to the slave trade. So this myth that we hear a lot in this country now that the empire, the industrial revolution and the wealth of the monarchy are built on slavery is absolute nonsense.”
Fellow historian Andrew Roberts said the royal family descended from the Hanoverians, who ruled from 1714, and should not be held responsible for the actions of earlier dynasties. He added, “There is no justification for blaming Charles III for Charles II’s actions.”
It is reportedly the first time the palace has publicly stated its support for research into the monarchy’s historical ties to common commerce.
The Palace said it is granting researchers full access to the Royal Archives and Collection as part of a detailed investigation expected to run until 2026.
A spokesman said the king wanted to follow through on his pledge to deepen his understanding of the impact of slavery with “strength and determination.”
They added: “This is a matter that His Majesty takes very seriously.” Suggestions that the king would be willing to pay reparations or make a charitable donation were described by royal sources as “highly speculative” last night.
They also stressed that the project was being carried out by the Historic Royal Palaces charity, as opposed to the king personally, and was aimed at “deepening understanding of the issue.”
The study is led by Camilla de Koning, a PhD student at the University of Manchester, who said previous monarchs were “diplomatic players” who had influenced the transatlantic slave trade.
She told Radio 4’s World At One, “I hope it will become a very important new perspective on how the monarchs were actually involved in the colonial empire.”
Charles’ support for the academic work carried out by the University of Manchester with historic royal palaces has been welcomed by researchers and campaigners. But others feared it could open the door for the royal family and government facing demands to pay compensation or reparations for their role in the slave trade and colonialism.
Dr. Edmond Smith, who oversees the study, said the project would not consider the controversial topic of compensation for those affected, but could influence future discussions about recovery.
The inquiry began without fanfare in October and only came to light after the emergence of a document showing a transfer of £1,000 worth of shares in the Royal African Company from Colston to King William III in 1689. The company shipped up to 150,000 enslaved people from Africa to the Americas and the Caribbean.
The document, published by The Guardian, was unearthed by American historian Dr. Brooke Newman.
She said, “There is no question that centuries of investment in African slavery and the slave trade have contributed immensely to building the status, prestige and fortune of today’s royal family.”
Eric Phillips of the Caricom Reparations Commission, which represents Caribbean countries where European powers enslaved people to work on plantations, said: “King Charles knows enough to apologize, and should.”