Protests planned in Bahamas as King Charles begins Caribbean tour
King Charles starts a nine-day Caribbean tour on Tuesday, visiting the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. A Rastafarian leader is organising a protest during the Bahamas stop, demanding a full apology for slavery.
Protests planned in Bahamas as King Charles begins Caribbean tour
A protest organised for the Bahamas stop
High Priest Richmond McKinney, a Rastafarian leader, is organising a protest during Charles's visit to the Bahamas on Tuesday and Wednesday. The stop opens the king charles caribbean tour, which takes in the Bahamas and Guyana before Antigua and Barbuda, where the Commonwealth heads of government meeting takes place.
McKinney demonstrated against Queen Elizabeth II in the 1980s, and says the demand has not changed since then.
The cry remains the same: freedom, redemption and international repatriation.
On the apology campaigners are seeking, McKinney said regret alone will not satisfy them.
You say you regret slavery, but your regret is not good enough. We want a full apology from you.
What organisers say the protests are for
Dr Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, the committee's chair, described the protests as serving two purposes at once.
- demanding that reparations be made
- raising Bahamian awareness of the relationship to the crown
Campbell-Dean also questioned the expense of the visit, asking why the Bahamas is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to host the person responsible for the enslavement and colonisation of ancestors.
Apology and reparations demands around the visit
The Bahamas protest sits within wider pressure expected across the tour. Protests and demands for a formal apology and reparations are anticipated during the visit. In Guyana, president Irfaan Ali has said ahead of the trip that he wants progress towards reparations, beginning with an apology.
The royal household's position, however, is set:
- Charles is expected to deliver three significant speeches but will follow government advice not to issue a formal apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade
- the British government has ruled out paying reparations
The protest is scheduled for the king's Bahamas visit on Tuesday and Wednesday, at the start of the nine-day tour.
