King Charles on Tuesday acknowledged the injustices of slavery while speaking in the Bahamas at the start of a Caribbean tour, saying Commonwealth leaders would discuss the issue at their summit next week.
"It is only right to acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond," Charles said.
His remarks come against the backdrop of increasingly vocal demands from Caribbean nations that Britain pay reparations for its role in the slave trade. The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting is scheduled for next week in Antigua and Barbuda, where Caribbean leaders are expected to press demands for reparations for slavery and colonialism.
Charles and Queen Camilla are visiting the Bahamas and Guyana before traveling to Antigua and Barbuda for the biennial summit.
During his remarks in Nassau, Charles noted that some of what was "best" in Bahamian culture today — "the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright" — was "born out of darkness."