King Charles to Discuss Legacy of Slavery With Commonwealth Leaders at Summit

King Charles has confirmed he will discuss the legacy of slavery at a summit with Commonwealth leaders as he begins his Caribbean tour. His visit comes amid renewed calls from Caribbean nations for Britain to apologise for the atrocities of transatlantic slavery and engage in reparations talks.

The king arrived in the Bahamas to a ceremonial welcome and attended a youth rally at Clifford Park, the site where the country officially gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1973.

Charles's nine-day tour, which includes a solo state visit to Guyana, will culminate in presiding over the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) hosted by Antigua and Barbuda.

In his speech in the Bahamas on Tuesday, Charles said: 'Some of what is best in Bahamian culture today, the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright, was born out of darkness.' He said: 'It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future.'

He said the Chogm leaders would discuss matters relating to the legacy of slavery next week in Antigua.

But a statement from the Bahamas National Reparations Committee said the king's comments on Tuesday 'fall short of what justice requires'. It said: 'Our culture is not born out of darkness; our culture was born out of agency and out of the will to survive despite the horrors, trauma and degradation.'

The committee added: 'The royal family and the British government were responsible for the darkness. His comments fall short of what justice requires – a full and formal apology – and they do not speak to the steps needed to remedy the wrongs committed in the name of the crown he wears.'

Dr Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, the committee's chair, told the Guardian that while she appreciated the king's attempt to 'connect with Bahamian culture' in his speech, his words felt 'like hollow platitudes'. She said that because of her pride in the Bahamian people, they deserved much more than what was offered.

The chair of the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission, Prof Hilary Beckles, said what the Caribbean was looking for was 'proprietary justice, beginning with remorse'. Beckles added that when speaking to Caribbean young people the king should 'dig deep within his consciousness' and give them 'the empowerment that he would give to his own children' to survive in a rapidly changing world.

Charles is to travel to Guyana on Thursday, where the president, Mohamed Irfaan Ali, recently called for the monarch to take the next step and offer to apologise.

The king follows the guidance of his ministers, and it is understood the government has not advised him to offer an apology or reparations, in keeping with established policy. The prime minister, Andy Burnham, and the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, will join Charles in Antigua for the gathering of Commonwealth leaders.

Charles acknowledged the 'appalling atrocity of slavery', describing it as something 'which forever stains our history', when he attended the ceremony marking Barbados's historic transition to a republic in 2021. A year later he described how he was on a personal journey of discovery and was continuing to 'deepen my own understanding of slavery's enduring impact', in a speech at the opening of a Commonwealth summit hosted by Rwanda.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: 'At the request of host governments, the king's programme will primarily focus on shining a light on the many modern partnerships and opportunities for the future that are having a transformative effect on the region, as it confronts the challenges of today.' The spokesperson said the tour was both a new journey and the continuance of a lifelong one in which the king has sought to engage, understand and educate about the most shameful aspects of the past.