Charles says Commonwealth leaders will discuss slavery’s legacy

King Charles said Commonwealth leaders will discuss the legacy of slavery at their meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, as his Caribbean tour began in the Bahamas amid renewed calls for an apology and reparations. Speaking at a youth rally in the Bahamas on Tuesday, Charles said the country’s culture had emerged from a painful history and that it was right to acknowledge the suffering of the past. He said the issue would be discussed at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, in Antigua and Barbuda. The summit is scheduled for November 1 to 4. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee said the King’s remarks did not meet its call for a full formal apology and measures to address historical wrongs. Its chair, Niambi Hall CampbellDean, said the comments fell short of what justice required. The committee argued Bahamian culture reflected agency and survival, rather than being simply a reaction to suffering. Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali has also called an apology the next step, following Charles’s previous recognition of slavery’s harms. Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey said reparations should be discussed, including possible forms...