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The King, who arrived in Antigua and Barbuda on Friday ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), will speak as head of the 56-member Commonwealth.
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King Charles to address slavery with ‘sincere sorrow’ at Commonwealth summit
Nov 02, 2026
- King Charles to address slavery with “unflinching honesty” at Commonwealth summit
- Andy Burnham says he is open to a formal UK apology
- Burnham rules out paying reparations
- Kemi Badenoch says there is “no need” for an apology
KING CHARLES will confront the “most shameful aspects” of Britain’s past with “unflinching honesty” when he addresses Commonwealth leaders on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace said, as prime minister Andy Burnham signalled he was open to a formal apology for slavery.
“You may therefore expect him to address them in his speech with unflinching honesty, sincere sorrow, and respect for the wider discussions that will be taking place between relevant governments on this issue,” a palace spokesperson said on Saturday.
The King, who arrived in Antigua and Barbuda on Friday ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), will speak as head of the 56-member Commonwealth.
Burnham rejects slavery payouts but leaves door open to apology
The palace said it would not be appropriate for him to address UK government policy.
Burnham: ‘face up to the past’
Writing in The Guardian on Saturday, Burnham said: “We need to face up to the past.”
“Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them,” he wrote, offering a “structured dialogue with those affected”.
But he ruled out paying reparations, demanded by several Caribbean countries.
“I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,” he wrote.
Burnham, who will attend the summit, also announced a debt restructuring drive for the poorest Commonwealth countries, led by former prime minister Gordon Brown.
Calls for an apology
The issue has dominated the King’s nine-day tour of the Caribbean. In the Bahamas, small groups of protesters held placards reading “Pay what you owe us”, and the King acknowledged “the great suffering of the past”.
In Guyana on Friday, he paused to reflect at a site where local people were executed under British colonial rule.
King Charles faces reparations demands
Guyana’s President Irfaan Ali said recognising historical wrongs was only a “first step”.
“Now, moving to the apology is the next step,” he told ITV News.
Britain has never formally apologised for slavery or agreed to pay reparations. It profited from the trade for centuries but argues it also led efforts to abolish it, passing a law in 1833 to end slavery across most of the British Empire.
Badenoch: ‘no need’
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said there was “no need” for an apology and repeated her opposition to reparations.
“Slavery was an evil in which people from every continent and region participated,” she wrote on X. “We should be honest about the whole history, not select the parts that are politically convenient today.”
She urged the Commonwealth to “look forward” rather than “endlessly backwards”.
(With inputs from agencies)
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