Australia’s indigenous leaders demand King Charles apologise for colonialism
- Representatives from 12 Commonwealth nations also called for financial reparations and the return of stolen cultural treasures
- Facing a reckoning over monarchy’s links to slave trade and legacy of violence, Charles has said crown must ‘acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past’
Indigenous leaders from a string of former British colonies on Thursday urged King Charles to swiftly apologise for “centuries of racism” and the “legacy of genocide” perpetrated by the crown.
In a staunchly worded letter that could sour the build-up to this weekend’s coronation, indigenous representatives from 12 Commonwealth nations also called for financial reparations and the return of stolen cultural treasures.
The letter was signed by leaders from Australia – where indigenous people were massacred by British colonisers and forced off their lands – as well as several Caribbean nations once plundered for slaves.
The group said they had banded together to help their people “recover from centuries of racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery”.
Charles has in recent years stepped up efforts to engage with indigenous leaders, as the monarchy faces a reckoning over its links to the slave trade and the British Empire’s legacy of violence.
Although he has conceded the crown must “acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past”, the letter implores him to go further by offering a formal, royal apology.