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Britain’s King Charles III gestures in the rain during an Independence Day parade at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket ground in North Sound, Antigua, November 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua (AP) — King Charles III called the transatlantic slave trade a “shameful chapter of history” during a speech Tuesday at the official opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua.

Charles spoke just days after British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he is open to making a formal apology and proposed leading a program of debt restructuring to help the Commonwealth’s poorest countries, although he has rejected calls for the UK to pay reparations.

Charles said that the transatlantic slave trade “still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth” but did not apologize.

“That shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow, and yet, history also teaches us…