Book The Crown’s Silence details how crown profited from and protected trade in enslaved African people for centuries
MPs, experts and campaigners have called on King Charles to make a formal apology for transatlantic slavery, after research highlighted how the British crown and Royal Navy extended and protected the trade in enslaved African people for hundreds of years.
The king has previously expressed “personal sorrow” at the suffering caused by slavery and has spoken of committing to “finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure”. However, the British crown has never issued a formal apology.
The Crown’s Silence, a book published this week, details how monarchs from Queen Elizabeth I to George IV used the trade in enslaved people to boost crown revenues and defend the British empire.
It is believed that by 1807 the British crown was the largest buyer of enslaved people.
