Charles visits execution site of 1823 uprising against slavery

The King has visited the site where enslaved people were executed in Guyana after British authorities put down one of the largest uprisings of the colonial era.Charles stood on the edge of Independence Park, in the capital Georgetown, and watched as schoolchildren played sports where 33 of those involved in the Demerara Rebellion of 1823 were hanged.Caribbean nations have made renewed calls for Britain to apologise for its role in selling enslaved people for profit, and for reparations, in the run-up to the King’s tour of the Caribbean.Charles began his nine-day trip on Tuesday by acknowledging the “great suffering of the past” in a speech at a youth rally in the Bahamas, and confirmed a Commonwealth leaders’ summit he will open in Antigua next week would discuss the legacy of slavery.Charles with Steven Jacobs, as he greets youths in Promenade Gardens next to Independence Park in Georgetown (Isabel Infantes/PA)PA WireAt the park Charles was joined by Guyana’s culture minister Steven Jacobs, to acknowledge the country’s history of slavery and resistance.The King listened intently as Mr Jacobs talked at the entrance of the former parade ground and showed him a plaque commemorating those who were condemned to death and hanged from gallows erected on site.The rising began in August 1823 on the plantation of Sir John Gladstone, father of the future prime minister William Gladstone, when Jack Gladstone, an enslaved man named after his owner, rang the plantation bell to signal the start of the rebellion.His father Quamina, a carpenter on the same estate and a deacon at the local chapel, had urged a peaceful strike but the uprising was crushed with brutal force and hundreds were killed.Quamina was hunted down and killed the following month and his body was displayed outside the plantation as a warning to others – he is now one of Guyana’s national heroes – while his son was sold and sent to St Lucia.Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali said ahead of the visit Charles has recognised slavery as the darkest days in human history – but moving to the apology is “the next step”.In 2023, Charles 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.Read MoreTerrence Campbell, an MP from Guyana’s A Partnership for Unity Party, claimed he and a small group of activists were stopped from protesting about reparations in the area by police.They moved on to stage their demonstration outside a building where Charles met indigenous leaders in the capital, and held placards which read “No apology will return what was stolen reparations now”.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.Mr Campbell said Charles had “moral persuasion” adding: “If the King comes out a little more boldly in the United Kingdom and also at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference, I think that he can use moral persuasion to move the needle, the needle of the British government, the needle of the other colonial powers, on this important issue of reparations.”Charles spent two days in the Bahamas and was joined at a number of events by the country’s prime minister Philip Davis who was interviewed by Sky News and asked about the King making an apology for slavery.The politician said: “Whether I like to see him apologise, again, that’s a personal decision on his part after advice.“At the end of the day, how a repair would look, once that is satisfactory, how it comes, I will be satisfied.”He added: “Well, for me, repair and reparation is not absolutely money, simply, money.“Some people think, I think, acknowledgment, firstly…which has been the first step, which we have now recognised.“Acknowledgement, education, training, things of that nature.”The King uses binoculars during a visit to the Seawall in Georgetown (Isabel Infantes/PA)PA WireDuring the second day of his state visit, Charles attended events highlighting the environment, British-Guyana business links and the nation’s culture, meeting indigenous leaders.He told the Global Biodiversity Alliance conference “nature has the best solutions to everything today” and met businesses contributing to Guyana being the UK’s largest trading partner in the Commonwealth Caribbean.Charles visited the Umana Yana, a huge thatched building used as a meeting place for indigenous leaders from the National Tashaos Council.The King was presented with a necklace placed round his neck, shook a pair of maracas used for witchcraft and was given an archer’s bow and arrow.Charles met Tashao (chief) Derrick John, who visited the King’s Gloucestershire home of Highgrove last year, a meeting that was shown in the King’s Harmony film.He said: “He was very interested in the role indigenous people play in protecting our forests and the funding that is being transferred through forest carbon credit financing to the indigenous community and how that is transforming lives.“With Guyana being a small country we are taking a bold step.”The King ended his state visit by learning about Kingston Seawall as he strolled along the landmark, one of Georgetown’s most historic spots and a vital component of Guyana’s coastal defence system.