Buckingham Palace announced on Thursday that Britain’s King Charles III is supporting research into the monarchy’s historical ties to the transatlantic slave trade.
The palace announced a month before his coronation that academics will have greater access to royal archives, and that Charles takes the issue “extremely seriously.”
King James II, Charles’ predecessor in the 17th century, was the largest investor in the Royal African Company, which became a brutal pioneer of the transatlantic slave trade.
Charles told Commonwealth leaders last year that in order to “unlock the power of our common future, we must also acknowledge the wrongs that have shaped our past.”
However, the then-heir to the throne made no apology for the royal family’s involvement in the transportation and sale of people for profit.
According to a royal spokesperson, Charles has continued his pledge to deepen his understanding of slavery’s impact with “vigor and determination” since assuming the throne from Queen Elizabeth II.
James II, who was deposed in 1688, was not the only forefather of Charles who was involved in the slave trade.
According to a previously unseen document published by The Guardian newspaper, King William III received £1,000 in Royal African Company shares from slave trader Edward Colston in 1689.
In June 2020, protesters in the western city of Bristol toppled Colston’s statue, igniting a fierce debate.
On May 6, Charles will be crowned at Westminster Abbey.
His younger son, Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, are two invitees who have yet to confirm their attendance.
After leaving royal duties in 2021, the couple accused the royal family of racism in an interview with talk show host Oprah Winfrey.
Harry’s brother Prince William furiously responded: “We are very much not a racist family.”