The Duke of Cambridge has expressed “profound sorrow” for the “appalling atrocity of slavery” during an address to Jamaica’s prime minister and other dignitaries that stopped short of the apology activists had demanded.
“Slavery was abhorrent and it never should have happened,” Prince William said. “I strongly agree with my father, the Prince of Wales, who said in Barbados last year that the appalling atrocity of slavery forever stains our history.”
William also made reference to the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which is 25 March, and expressed gratitude to the Windrush generation, Jamaicans who came to the UK to help rebuild after the second world war. “We are forever grateful for the immense contribution that this generation and their descendants have made to British life, which continues to enrich and improve our society,” he said.
The royals’ tour of the Caribbean has been met with anti-colonial sentiment as citizens call for an apology and reparations for the transatlantic slave trade.
To the surprise of many, during an official welcome earlier in the day with William and the Duchess of Cambridge, the Jamaican prime minister, Andrew Holness, said the pair’s visit provided an opportunity to address “unresolved” issues, likely including reparations and the removal of the Queen as the head of state.
“Jamaica is, as you would see, a country that is very proud of our history and very proud of what we have achieved. We are moving on and we intend to attain in short order … our goals and fulfil our true ambitions as an independent, developed, prosperous country,” he said.
The royals’ arrival on Tuesday was preceded by a demonstration outside the British High Commission, at which protesters called for an apology and an acknowledgment of how the family has benefited from slavery.
“I think it is what we expected, a statement of regret, but I am not sure if it translates to a formal apology, which is really what everyone has been waiting for,” the economist Rosalea Hamilton told the Guardian about William’s statement.
Hamilton is an organiser for the Advocates’ Network, a group that sent an open letter signed by more than 100 people including politicians, doctors, lawyers and artists to the Duke and Duchess calling for them to “sehyuysorry”, a patois term for “say you are sorry”. The Network also listed 60 reasons reparations should be made.
Imani Duncan-Price, a former senator and signatory of the letter, said: “It is commendable that the prince acknowledges that the appalling atrocity of slavery stains [their] history. As modern royals who understand the growing consciousness of the world about racist systems like slavery and colonialism and the sustained impact on the descendants, [we ask] that he would encourage his family to move to action on reparations. There’s a saying in Jamaica, ‘action not a bag a mout’. Time for the crown and the government of England to deal substantively with the matter of reparations.”
Royal sources said the Cambridges were aware of the protests during their time on the island nation of three million people, which is in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s reign. Over the course of the visit, the royals visited a hospital, a teacher’s college and Trench Town, where they were greeted with cheers of approval as William played a football match with Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey.
Amid reports that a senior official has already been appointed to oversee the transition to a republic, polling experts say Jamaican public opinion has moved steadily in favour of becoming a republic over the past decade, fuelled by increasing discussion of the negative legacy of colonialism and by interest in the Black Lives Matter movement.
Lisa Hanna, Jamaican’s opposition spokesperson on foreign affairs, said the last three years had led to a generation of Caribbean people who are “more self reflective, more socially conscious”, and the Windrush scandal was contributing to this. Watching how “our grandparents and great-grandparents” were being treated “gave us a sense of questioning and reckoning”, Hanna said. “It’s time we look at how we’ve given so much of ourselves to Great Britain.”
Political pollster Don Anderson said only around 40% of Jamaicans supported separation from the monarchy in 2011, but in 2020 this had increased to 62%. “I’d be surprised if that number isn’t closer now to 70%, because of the increased calls for Jamaica to follow Barbados in becoming a republic,” he said.
“There has also been an increased awareness of the atrocities of colonialism. I don’t think it was on people’s radar in the same way 10 years ago. I believe the government will be forced to respond to this very soon.”
Lawyer Jennifer Housen said people in Jamaica were increasingly wondering what the benefit was of continued ties with the UK, given that the UK requires Jamaican nationals to apply for visas before visiting (and makes these visas hard to secure) and that economic links were no longer significant. “How special are we when our nationals need a visa even to come to Britain? People feel the relationship is pointless.”
The parallel campaign for payment of reparations for slavery from the British government has intensified. Earlier this year, the Jamaican prime minister established a new ministry responsible for constitutional reform, having previously directed then attorney general Marlene Malahoo Forte to research the removal of the Queen as head of state.
