Britain’s King Charles paid homage to fallen soldiers and reflected on colonial atrocities in Guyana during a whistle-stop tour of the former colony on Friday.
Joined by Guyanese Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Charles laid ceremonial wreaths on the graves of soldiers who fought for Britain before independence in a Georgetown cemetery.
The king has acknowledged this reality but has stopped short of saying sorry. A formal apology must come from the British government. Guyana has “managed to keep an enormous percentage of your forests. Following solo stints in the Bahamas and Guyana, the king will be joined by his wife, Queen Camilla, in Antigua and Barbuda, where he will address a Commonwealth Heads of Government summit.
“A lot of the wealth of the United Kingdom was derived from Guyana,” lawmaker Terrence Campbell told AFP at a small demonstration. “This is an appropriate time and place for the King to maybe have a change of heart and issue that apology for slavery,” he said. That is an incredible achievement,” Charles said Friday. The summit will include slavery reparations discussions, according to Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey.
