Researchers are delving into the Royal family’s apparent links to slavery, with the Palace granting full access to precious archives. Photo / AP
Researchers are delving into the Royal family’s apparent links to slavery, with the Palace granting full access to precious archives. Photo / AP
Buckingham Palace has confirmed it is co-operating with an independent study examining the British monarchy’s involvement in the slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries.
The research is being conducted by the University of Manchester with Historic Royal Palaces, with the Palace granting full access to the Royal Archives and the Royal Collection.
The PhD project, led by historian Camilla de Koning, is expected to be completed by 2026. The monarch has expressed personal sorrow over the suffering caused by the slave trade.
The Palace released a statement in response to The Guardian’s publication of a previously unseen document, showing the transfer of shares in the slave-trading Royal African Company from Edward Colston, the slave trader, and the company’s deputy governor, to King William III in 1689.
“This is an issue that his majesty takes profoundly seriously,” the statement read.
“As his majesty told the Commonwealth heads of government reception in Rwanda last year: ‘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’.”
Buckingham Palace has confirmed it is co-operating with the independent study.
“That process has continued with vigour and determination since his majesty’s accession,” the spokesperson said.
“Historic Royal Palaces is a partner in an independent research project, which began in October last year, that is exploring, among other issues, the links between the British monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade during the late 17th and 18th centuries.”
The King also stated that each Commonwealth country should make its own decision about whether it is a constitutional monarchy or a republic. There are currently 14 Commonwealth Realms, in addition to the United Kingdom, where the King is their head of state.
The Palace’s announcement coincided with the King’s participation in a centuries-old Easter tradition, known as Maundy Thursday, for the first time since becoming monarch.
King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort attend the Royal Maundy Service at York Minster on April 6 in York, England. Photo / Getty Images
The PhD project started in October, one month after King Charles came to the throne.
Dr Halima Begum, chief executive of the race equality think tank Runnymede Trust, commended the King’s actions and stated the “next step could be a royal commission to unearth the complex histories of colonialism,” which would “really inspire millions of British citizens, and of course citizens across the Commonwealth”.
PhD student de Koning stated that the royals are often overlooked when it comes to influence, and she hopes to change that perspective through her research.
Charles’ 17th century predecessor King James II was the largest investor in the Royal African Company, which became a brutal pioneer of the transatlantic slave trade.
James II, who was deposed in 1688, was not the only one of Charles’s forebears who was complicit in the slave trade.
In 1689, according to a previously unseen document published by The Guardian newspaper, Royal African Company shares worth £1,000 (NZ$1,982) were transferred to King William III from slave trader Edward Colston.
Colston became the centre of fierce controversy in June 2020, when protesters in the western city of Bristol toppled his statue.
The statue of slave trader Edward Colston is retrieved from Bristol Harbour by a salvage team on June 11, 2020 in Bristol, England. The statue was pulled from its plinth in the city centre and thrown in the water by anti-racism campaigners during a Black Lives Matter protest. Photo / Getty Images
