??Podcast: A king’s ransom for past injustices?

By his own words, the "time has come" for a conversation over Britain’s involvement in the slave trade as King Charles meets Commonwealth leaders in Samoa.

By 360info editorial team

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King Charles and Queen Camilla made their first public outing on Sunday during their nine-day tour of Australia and Samoa ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

The trip, Charles’ 17th to Australia, but his first as king, comes at a curious time for the British Crown.

Just days out from the trip, reports in the British media arose of one of the agenda items set to be tabled in Apia this week.

The concept of reparations from the British to nations impacted by the Atlantic slave trade is set to be tabled, with the sum of 200 billion UK pounds.

Some say that is a gross underestimation, claiming the true figure is somewhere closer to 24 trillion.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has immediately responded to the claim by stating “we do not pay reparations.”

The curious role of King Charles and the royal family within the dispute harks back to the connection between the crown and the role of the British Empire in the slave trade.

The Guardian revealed accusations of Charles’ direct ancestors profiting from the trade, which led to Buckingham Palace reiterating his words which he gave to the last commonwealth meeting in Rwanda in 2022 where he claimed: “I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact.”

Speaking to 360info’s podcast Leave it To The Experts, Associate Professor Cindy McCreery from the University of Sydney, the king will continue a recent tradition from the UK sovereign on indigenous rights by listening and not speaking.

“It has long been the case, at least since the 19th century and the time in the reign of queen Victoria, that the British monarch has positioned themselves, whether fairly or unfairly, rightly or wrongly, as someone who is empathetic with the position of Indigenous people and who is there as a sounding board, a person to listen to their concerns,” professor McCreery said.

“Certainly, we have seen groups of Indigenous people appeal directly to the British monarch for justice, not necessarily with a great deal of success, but nevertheless, there is this idea that appealing directly to the monarch is an appropriate forum and that the British monarch is there to listen. So, during this visit, we can see that Charles and Camilla will be again listening, quite deliberately, to Indigenous Australians.”

You can listen to the full interview, along with the rest of the story on the widening conversation of reparations, and responsibility in part 1 of Leave it To The Experts’ look at the British Empire and the Commonwealth.

Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info?.

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