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King's Caribbean tour will not shy away from 'darkest days of our past' - Published King Charles's upcoming Caribbean tour will not shy away from "the darkest days of our past", Buckingham Palace has said. During the visits, the King is expected to face renewed calls to apologise for the UK's role in the transatlantic slave trade and be questioned on potential reparations - compensation from countries that took part in the slave trade. The King and Queen Camilla are set to travel to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, with visits also to Bahamas and Guyana as part of the eight-day trip starting on October 27. According to PA news agency, it is understood the government has not advised the King to apologise or offer reparations. - Jamaica to hand slavery reparations petition to King Charles - Published6 September The King has previously expressed his "personal sorrow" at the UK's role in slavery. A palace spokesperson said: "There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons. "While these are primarily matters for Governments to address, His Majesty's previous statements on them have been unequivocal, describing them as an 'atrocity' which 'forever stains our history'." The palace said the tour will "principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country". Several African and Caribbean countries have called for a formal apology and reparations from countries that benefited from the transatlantic slave trade. In September, Jamaica's government said it would raise a petition on the subject of slavery reparations with the King, the country's head of state. Olivia Grange, the country's culture minister, said the petition would ask the King to refer three questions to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council over the legality of the enslavement of Africans in Jamaica. Last month, a Downing Street spokesperson said the transatlantic slave trade was "abhorrent" but the UK position was that it does not pay reparations.
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