FLASH NEWS
Strong reactions to photo of King Charles under portrait of monarch who became rich from slavery in the Caribbean
2026-03-21 00:02:34 / BOTA
Slavery activists and scholars have criticised the British monarchy after King Charles posed with Caribbean dignitaries at a reception under a portrait of George IV, who made his fortune from slave labour on plantations in Grenada. Charles hosted a crowd of Caribbean islanders at St James's Palace on March 10 for the annual Commonwealth reception. The foreign ministers of Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago were among those in attendance.
Grenada's High Commissioner to Britain, Rusher Croney, was also invited.
A group of 29 guests posed for a photo with Charles and British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper under a large portrait of King George IV. The photo was then shared on several Caribbean online accounts.
Research by independent scholar Desiree Baptiste, reported by Reuters last year, found that around £1,000 (about £103,000 in today's money) was paid into George IV's private treasury from two Crown-owned plantations in Grenada, where hundreds of slaves worked, in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Experts say the revelations are increasing pressure on the monarchy to confront its historical links to slavery, apologize and admit how it benefited from it.
"It's insulting to have his portrait displayed," said Arleigh Gill, chairwoman of Grenada's National Reparations Commission. "It's doubly insulting to put people of African descent with the king, under a picture of him. You're just rubbing salt in the wound ," he said.
Gill said the photo was also an opportunity for some Caribbean representatives to learn more about the history of slavery.
Buckingham Palace did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Batiste called the photo a "diplomatic error" by the palace and urged Charles to "deepen" his knowledge of the monarchy's involvement in slavery.
Robert Beckford, a British professor of theology of Jamaican origin, said the "family photo" was an act of "historical amnesia".
"Standing under royal portraits legitimizes oblivion ," he commented.
Charles had expressed his dismay over slavery in a 2022 speech to Commonwealth leaders. A Guardian investigation in 2023 revealed that King William III (1689-1802) received a share of £1,000 from the Royal Africa Company, which transported thousands of enslaved Africans to America.
Happening now...
ideas
top
TRENDING 
services
- POLICE129
- STREET POLICE126
- AMBULANCE112
- FIREFIGHTER128