A Jamaican delegation petitioned King Charles III on Monday as Caribbean nations intensify calls for reparations over Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade.
The delegation, which includes representatives from Jamaica and other former British colonies, is seeking to have questions surrounding Britain’s legal responsibility for reparatory justice considered by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia “Babsy” Grange, confirmed that she delivered the petition in a social media post said the move could help advance what she described as a long-overdue settlement for centuries of abuse endured by enslaved Africans and their descendants.
King Charles, who remains Jamaica’s head of state, is expected to receive the petition, although Buckingham Palace noted that the monarch does not personally decide whether a matter is referred to the Privy Council.
A Palace spokesperson said the King remains “personally and wholeheartedly committed” to promoting greater understanding of slavery and finding ways to address historical wrongs affecting communities today.
The Palace also pointed to remarks Charles made to Commonwealth leaders in 2024, when he acknowledged that painful aspects of the Commonwealth’s history continue to have consequences in the present.
Britain abolished slavery across most of its empire in 1833 and subsequently paid £20 million in compensation to slave owners for the loss of enslaved people who had been treated as property. The government loans used to finance those payments were not fully repaid until 2015.
Grange has cited that history as part of Jamaica’s argument for reparatory justice.
“Up to 2015, Britain was paying the slave masters, because we were being considered property,” she said, questioning why descendants of the enslaved should not similarly pursue a remedy.
The Jamaican delegation is also expected to meet officials at the British Museum to discuss artifacts removed from Jamaica during the colonial period.
According to Buckingham Palace, Jamaican representatives are additionally expected to hold bilateral discussions with Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Reparations are expected to remain a major issue on the Commonwealth agenda in the coming months. King Charles is scheduled to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua and Barbuda in November as part of a wider Caribbean tour.
The King and Queen Camilla are also expected to visit The Bahamas before travelling to Guyana for a state visit.
Jamaica and other CARICOM member states have for years pushed for reparatory justice from former European colonial powers, with demands extending beyond direct financial compensation to include debt cancellation, development support, healthcare, education, cultural restoration and formal acknowledgment of the lasting impact of slavery and colonialism.
