King Charles ‘makes terrible mistake’ as monarch ‘opens door’ for slave trade reparations
Petronella Wyatt says King Charles could be making a 'terrible mistake'
PA / GB NEWS
King Charles has made a “terrible mistake” by acknowledging the “personal sorrow” suffered by slaves at the hands of the Royal Family, according to a royal expert.
It comes after it was revealed Caribbean nations will make formal demands to the Royal Family for slavery reparations by the end of the year, according to reports.
Several nations are said to be keen to put their case directly to descendants of those thought to have benefited from slavery, including King Charles.
The monarch has been accused of “setting a precedent” by acknowledging crimes committed by the Royal Family generations ago by royal expert Petronella Wyatt.
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She also branded the idea of the Royal Family shelling out millions for the crimes of ancestors “ridiculous” as institutions like The Church of England, Lloyd’s of London and wealthy universities brace themselves for challenges over their slavery involvements.
Questioned by Dan Wootton over whether King Charles has “opened the door” on the matter, Wyatt admitted the monarch has made a “terrible mistake”.
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“There will be many institutions that will be targeted if this happens”, she said on GB News.
“It’s utterly absurd. You cannot go around apologising and paying reparations for the sins of distant ancestors.”
Wyatt was questioned by Wootton over whether she would become a republican should the Royal Family ever cave in and begin paying reparations.
“Historical fact has been lost, the wealth of the Royal Family comes from the Crown Estate, there is no link between their wealth and slavery”, she said.
The royal establishment could be expecting reparation demands
REUTERS“It is utterly ridiculous”, she concluded.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Chairman of the Grenada National Reparations Committee Arley Gill said he is hopeful that Charles will “revisit” the issue, having commented on it last year.
“We are hoping that King Charles will revisit the issue of reparations and make a more profound statement, beginning with an apology, and that he would make resources from the Royal Family available for reparative justice,” he said.
“He should make some money available. We are not saying that he should starve himself and his family, and we are not asking for trinkets. But we believe we can sit around a table and discuss what can be made available for reparative justice.”
It was claimed that the Reparations Commission for St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) are hoping to start issuing formal demands for reparations for the end of this year.
Its reparation commission chairman, Adrian Odle, claimed “every property that the Royal Family is in possession of has the scent of slavery”.
Their campaign was given further legitimacy by the decision of former BBC correspondent Laura Trevelyan to donate money and apologise to the people of Grenada for her family’s involvement in the historic slave trade.
'My family, the Trevelyans, owned about 1,000 slaves on five different sugar plantations in Grenada in the 17th and 18th centuries', she said last year.
“When slavery was abolished in 1834, our family received compensation from the British government for the loss of our property, as part of 46,000 UK claims made to the Slave Compensation Commission.
“We received about £3 million in today's money. The enslaved got nothing.”