St. Kitts and Nevis’s Prime Minister, Dr. Terrance Drew, said: “the country is “not totally free” while King Charles remains head of state. PM Drew has promised public consultation on the country becoming a republic.
Dr. Drew was among world leaders who attended a Commonwealth reception at Marlborough House in London on Friday before the king’s coronation at Westminster Abbey on Saturday 6 May.
In the run-up to the coronation, representatives from 12 Commonwealth countries joined forces to call on Charles to acknowledge and apologise for the impacts and ongoing legacy from British “genocide and colonisation”.
In early April, Charles expressed his support for the first time for research into the historical links between the British monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade. Buckingham Palace said the royal household would help with the academic project by offering access to the Royal Collection and the Royal Archives. Speaking in the capital, Basseterre, Dr. Drew told the BBC the research was a “step in the right direction”.
“I think that acknowledging that… something wrong was done, acknowledging it and apologising for it, is a step in the right direction,” he reportedly said. Buckingham Palace said Charles took slavery “profoundly seriously”.
