King Charles Faces Renewed Calls to Apologize for Slavery

Should Charles apologize for the Crown’s centuries of slave trade profits or is it time to stop blaming modern monarchs for distorted history?

Published 10 hours ago

King Charles Faces Renewed Calls to Apologize for Slavery

story

Above: Bishop Sarah Mullally and King Charles in Sandringham, U.K., on Jan. 25. Image credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

The British monarchy invested in and profited from the transatlantic slave trade for centuries, with the crown becoming the largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807. Royal involvement extended from Elizabeth I through George IV, generating massive wealth through African bondage while setting brutal precedents for colonial powers including the United States. A formal apology from King Charles is long overdue and must be accompanied by concrete reparative action to address the lasting legacy of global racism and economic inequality.

Virginia Commonwealth University: Humanities Research Center

Republic on X

Pro-establishment narrative

Royal involvement in slavery, while real, is widely distorted. Later Hanoverians had limited policy control, and the monarchy’s Victorian-era anti-slavery advocacy is ignored while minor business ventures are sensationalized. These distortions fuel exaggerated demands on Charles today, overlooking Britain’s 1840 acknowledgment, seven years after abolishing slavery in 1833 — long before the Ottoman Empire ended in 1924 and the Arab trade in the 1960s. Enough is enough. Double-standard demands for the British Crown to apologize will never end.

The Times

Amelia on X