Prince Charles demanded that the history of Britain’s involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade be taught as widely as the Holocaust.
Both the Prince of Wales and his son Prince William have expressed grief in the past, but have stopped apologizing for the monarchy’s role in the slave trade.
According to a report, the successor to the throne believes there is a fundamental gap in national awareness of the country’s direct involvement in it.
A royal source is quoted in a story in the Telegraph: ‘The prince notes that in the UK, at the national level, now at school, we know and learn everything about the Holocaust.
“This is not true of the transatlantic slave trade … and there is a recognition that it must happen.”
They said the prince did not try to ‘dictate’ education policy, but to encourage individuals to take responsibility for their own knowledge of the atrocities.
As the patron of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, Charles has a long-standing relationship with the Jewish community and a commitment to remembering victims.
The newspaper suggested that he was looking for a similar charity for the slave trade – but would not create one himself.
An aid said the senior royal is ‘looking for opportunities’ to highlight and celebrate diversity in both the UK and the Commonwealth.
It comes just days after Charles shared his ‘personal grief’ over the suffering caused by slavery at the opening of a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda, where the Duchess of Cornwall joined him.
He said: ‘To unlock the power of our common future, we must also acknowledge the injustices that have shaped our past.
“Many of those mistakes belong to an earlier age with different, and in some ways less, values.”
Once again, the prince stopped apologizing for the colonial past.
With royal approval, Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade officially began in 1663.
In less than 150 years, the country has been responsible for transporting millions of addicted Africans to colonies in the Americas, where men, women and children have been forced to work on plantations and denied basic human rights.
Charles’ visit to Rwanda was overshadowed by the Home Office’s controversial plans to deport people seeking refuge in the UK to the East African country – a policy the heir to the throne is said to be “upset”.
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