It came after the Guardian reported that the King and his late mother had received payments equivalent to £1.2 billion ($2.3b) from the Duchy of Lancaster and the Duchy of Cornwall during their lifetimes.
The estates are treated as the inherited personal possessions of the sovereign and the Prince of Wales, and generate a personal income for the holder of each title. The two estates, valued at £652 million and £1 billion respectively, have for centuries been at the centre of an argument over whether they should be treated as the private property of the Royal family or revert to the state.
His Majesty has never made known his personal views on reparations, but in a speech to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda last year, when he was still the Prince of Wales, he praised the way Canada has made progress in “reconciliation” with its indigenous people.
He said: “If we are to forge a common future that benefits all our citizens, we too must find new ways to acknowledge our past. Quite simply, this is a conversation whose time has come.”
He also told the conference: “I want to acknowledge that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history. I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact.”
On a visit to Ghana in 2018 the King described slavery as an “appalling atrocity”.
The subject of reparations was given an airing in an issue of the black British newspaper The Voice that the King guest-edited for its 40th anniversary last year.
The edition included an interview with Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, in which she said of her country and Britain: “We must both work together in the conversation on reparations and on the scars of the slave trade which is likely to galvanise with the bold statement of HRH Prince Charles in … Rwanda, when he acknowledged that this is a conversation whose time has come.”
Her words appeared beneath a picture of her sharing a light-hearted moment with the King.
Camilla de Koning, a PhD researcher at Manchester University, will investigate the extent of the monarchy’s involvement in the slave trade and is expected to conclude her research in 2026.
Her project, which began in October last year, is being co-sponsored by Historic Royal Palaces, which manages sites including Kensington Palace and the Tower of London.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement expressing the King’s support for the project, saying he had continued his pledge to deepen his understanding of slavery’s impact with “vigour and determination” since his accession to the throne last year.
Royal link to Edward Colston
It came as the Guardian also published a previously unseen document showing ties between the British monarchy and the slave trade dating back to 1689.
The document showed a transfer of £1000 of shares in the slave-trading Royal African Company to King William III, from Edward Colston, the slave trader and the company’s deputy governor, whose statue in Bristol was pulled down by Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020.
Buckingham Palace said: “This is an issue that His Majesty takes profoundly seriously.
“The Royal Household is supporting [de Koning’s] research through access to the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives.
“Given the complexities of the issues it is important to explore them as thoroughly as possible.”
Eric Phillips, the vice-chairman of the Caricom Reparation Commission, which represents 20 Caribbean countries where European powers enslaved people to work on plantations, welcomed the King’s support for the research, but said he should do more.
Phillips said: “I do believe King Charles knows enough to apologise, and should. King Charles should extol the British Government to engage Caricom through a special commission to fully appreciate the impacts and legacies of the slave trade and to find practical solutions … to address reparatory justice.”
