King Charles danced in the street with a troupe of dancers in the Bahamas on Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Photo: AP

Members of the Ethiopian African Black International Congress stage a demonstration in downtown Nassau. Photo: AP

Performers present a reenactment of the trans-Atlantic slave trade at the Christiansborg Castle, a former slave post, during a high-level consultative conference on the next steps to the landmark United Nations resolution on the trafficking of enslaved Africans, in Accra, Ghana, June 19, 2026. Photo: Reuters/Francis Kokoroko

“Pay us what you owe us!” one woman cried out during a demonstration near Clifford Park, where the King met local students.

The demonstration was staged by members of the islands’ Rastafarian community and others in solidarity with calls for reparations for slavery.

“I stand in memory of the horrors and the atrocities committed against black people,” the woman firmly stated, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

Buckingham Palace had indicated that the King would address the issue of reparations during the tour, but not offer a formal apology, in line with British government policy, which also rules out financial reparations.

Arriving in the Bahamas on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, for his first visit as King, Charles acknowledged the injustices of slavery, saying Commonwealth leaders would discuss the issue at their summit next week.

No apology or reparations

Speaking in the Bahamian capital Nassau at the start of a three-day trip, the King said it was “only right” to acknowledge “the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond”.

Jamaica recently took its claim for reparations to Charles, and the case has since been referred to the UK’s highest court of appeal for the Caribbean island. The British government, however, has consistently rejected demands for either an apology or reparations.

From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European traders, with Britain transporting an estimated 3.2 million people across the Atlantic, making it one of the biggest slave-trading nations.

King Charles will visit Guyana next before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda, where he will be joined by his wife, Queen Camilla, for the biennial summit of the Commonwealth, which comprises 56 nations, mostly former British colonies.