King Charles' 'Apology' for Britain's Role in Slavery Would Be 'Meaningful' but 'Government Won't Allow' It, Reparations Advocate Says

Mar. 15, 2025

King Charles in Moata’a Village, Samoa on Oct. 24, 2024.Photo:Victoria Jones - Pool/Getty

Victoria Jones - Pool/Getty

Laura Trevelyan, a former BBC journalist who left her role to join the Caribbean’s fight for reparatory justice after discovering her ancestors’ involvement in the slave trade, praised the tone of theKing’s speech in Samoaon Friday, Oct. 25.

“It is vital, therefore, that we understand our history — to guide us to make the right choices in the future," Charles added.

Trevelyan, who held a senior role at the BBC in the U.S., exclusively tells PEOPLE, “I thought the King’s tone was so much better than [the U.K. government’s]. He acknowledged the pain many in the Caribbean, and indeed Africa, feel about the transatlantic slave trade to this day."

“He acknowledged both the pain of the past and looked forward," she adds. “That, to me, was the contrast so far with the Prime Minister, who has resolutely said, ‘Let’s look forward and not look back.’”

King Charles making his speech in Samoa, on Oct. 25, 2024.Ian Vogler-Pool/Getty

Ian Vogler-Pool/Getty

Trevelyan says she believes the King “is stuck in a bit of a holding pattern.” Like the U.K. government, he is not following the example of the Dutch king, who recently issued an apology. In 2023 speech, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands asked forgiveness for the “clear failure to act in the face of this crime against humanity.”

Trevelyan says, “As head of the Church of England and the Commonwealth, an apology from [King Charles] would be extremely meaningful. You can see from the tenor of the remarks of the government that they won’t allow him to.”

Laura Trevalyan.Bill Wadman

Bill Wadman

Trevelyan has embarked on her own journey into the past. In February 2023, she and seven family members, including her father George, traveled to the Caribbean for a ceremony where they publicly signed a letter of apology. After discovering that her family once owned 1,000 slaves in Grenada, she donated $127,000 from her pension savings to the government to help fund education initiatives in the nation.

She emphasized Charles’s remarks about “finding ways to right inequalities.” Speaking from Grenada, where she is engaged in charitable work, she tells PEOPLE, “That is the trick – to both acknowledge the pain of the past it and recognize it in a way that Caribbean leaders are calling for and find a way to address inequalities.”

Laura Trevelyan with Prime Minister of Grenada Dickon Mitchell when she made an apology along with members of her family in February 2023.Reynaldo Bernard

Reynaldo Bernard

“These islands are trying to build back better, but that’s very hard to do with 150 mph winds and sea levels higher than ever, without the money to do it,” she explains.

She adds, “There is a distinction between reparations and reparatory justice—which is softer and broader than reparations—and begins with a conversation about the past and acknowledging the horrors of the past. That shouldn’t threaten anybody and doesn’t imply countries paying trillions of dollars.”

King Chalres and Queen Camilla talking at the ceremonial welcome to Samoa on Oct. 24, 2024.Chris Jackson/Getty

Chris Jackson/Getty

The Caribbean “is a group of countries where the links to Britain are still meaningful, and it’s an opportunity for Britain to lead. It would be good if someone seized the opportunity," she continues.

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The King hassupported an investigation into the royal family’s connections to slavery. During a visit to the Bahamas in 2021, he expressed his anguish over the crimes of the past, describing the “appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains our history.”

source: people.com