The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Prince tells of ‘sorrow’ over the slave trade
The Prince of Wales has told Commonwealth leaders the potential of the family of the nations for good cannot be realised until we all “acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past”.
Charles described how he was continuing to “deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact”, in a speech at the opening of a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda.
He recognised the roots of the family of nations “run deep into the most painful period of our history” and acknowledging the wrongs of the past was a “conversation whose time has come”.
But there was no apology from the heir to the throne for the royal family’s involvement in the transportation and selling of people for profit.
For centuries, successive monarchs and other royals participated in the slave trade, either supporting and facilitating the activity or by making money from it.
Charles told the gathering of prime ministers and presidents, who included Boris Johnson, he could not “describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many” during slavery.
The prince is representing the Queen at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting, but his visit to the Rwandan capital Kigali has been overshadowed by a row
about comments he reportedly made criticising the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to the east African nation.
A much-anticipated meeting between Charles and Mr Johnson lasted 15 minutes.
The prince told the world leaders the family of 54 member states was “uniquely positioned to
achieve such positive change in our world”, adding: “To achieve this potential for good, however, and to unlock the power of our common future, we must also acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past.
“Many of those wrongs belong to an earlier age with different – and, in some ways lesser – values.
“By working together, we are building a new and enduring friendship.”
Charles also told the world leaders decisions about whether they keep the Queen as head of state or become a republic was an issue for them to make, and these fundamental changes could be made “calmly and without rancour”.