The Royal Family should apologise for their links to slavery before they are embarrassed into doing so 🖊️ DrBrookeNewman
), will join these ongoing investigations and make the Royal Family’s links to the slave trade and colonial slavery explicit.
But the historical record has already made the facts clear. For centuries, the Royal Family supported and was enriched by the brutal and exploitative practice of slavery. Acknowledging the “atrocity” and “enduring impact” of slavery as Prince Charles has done in both Barbados and Ghana, and, most recently,, may seem like a big, progressive step after decades of radio silence on the matter – but it is insufficient.
Additionally, Prince William’s words in Jamaica that “slavery was abhorrent, and it should never have happened” are also inadequate. Both men. The distinction matters and this choice was deliberate. An apology might open the door to conversations about financial restitution. Only the current monarch – Queen Elizabeth herself – can rightly initiate such conversations, in concert with the British Government. Yet it is doubtful that she will do so during the remainder of her lifetime.
The current Royal Family can never fully atone for their ancestors’ actions but issuing a formal apology and reaching out to thefor guidance on next steps is a wise place for the Queen or her successors to start. Acting now, before the evidence is overwhelming, would demonstrate that the Royal Family truly regrets that much of their inherited wealth is based on slave labour. Anything else suggests they’re simply grasping to retain Commonwealth realms who are tired of waiting for justice.
Brooke Newman is an Associate Professor of history at Virginia Commonwealth University and the author of
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