Prince Charles acknowledges ‘atrocity of slavery’ as Barbados becomes a republic

Prince Charles has acknowledged the “appalling atrocity of slavery”, describing it as something “which forever stains our history”, during the ceremony marking Barbados’ historic transition to a republic.

Charles summed up the period when the UK was one of the leading players in the transatlantic slave trade as the “darkest days of our past”, but looking to the future said the “creation of this republic offers a new beginning”.

Barbados’ ties with the monarchy were severed just after the clock struck midnight on Tuesday morning when the nation’s first president, Dame Sandra Mason, was sworn into office.

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