Was the British Crown involved?
King Charles III supports study on slavery
King Charles III has already commented several times on the subject of slavery.
© imago/Paul Marriott
King Charles III supports a study that sheds light on the Crown’s connection to slavery. He wanted to grant access to archives.
How involved was the British monarchy in the global slave trade? This question has occupied many historians for many years. Now King Charles III. (74) signaled for the first time that they would support research into possible connections. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: as reported by “The Guardian” among others. Before that, a document was made public, according to which an ancestor of Charles had shares in a trading company for slaves.
The king is “deeply serious” about the issue, according to the royal statement. Access to the royal collections and archives will therefore be granted in order to clarify the allegations. First, an article in the newspaper stated that the deputy governor of the slave trading company Royal African Company in 1689 offered King William III. (1650-1702) transferred £1,000 of shares in the company.
Prince Charles III called slavery the “darkest days of our past”
Both Charles and his son and heir to the throne Prince William (40) have repeatedly expressed their regret about the slave trade. So far, however, they have not addressed direct connections to the crown. For example, during a visit to Barbados some two years ago, Charles spoke of “the darkest days of our past and the horrific cruelty of slavery that stains our history forever”.
Now backed by the British Monarchy, the inquiry into the Crown’s links to slavery is being carried out jointly by the UK Ministry of Education’s non-profit organization Historic Royal Palaces and the University of Manchester and is due to be completed in 2026.