By Black Star News
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
New research has revealed that King George IV profited personally from slavery on the Caribbean nation of Grenada.
At the National Archives in London, Desirée Baptiste, a scholar on transatlantic slavery and colonialism, found a 1823-24 payment document, that is equal, in today’s dollars, to $138,490. The money, which went directly into the King’s personal repository, came from two Grenada plantations owned by the Crown, and helped to furnish the “lavish lifestyle” the then King was described as having.
George IV ruled the United Kingdom from 1820 until his death in 1830.
The new finding is adding pressure on the Monarchy to deal with their past links to slavery–and to address the issue of paying Reparations for the crimes of slavery.
Grenada Reparations Commission head, Arley Gill, released the following comment after the new finding was publicized. “We always knew that the Royal Family directly profited from the Atlantic slave trade and slavery, but now that we know that the Royal Family directly profited from the state of Grenada, we renew our call, even stronger now, for the royal family to apologise and to pay Reparations.”
During a 2022 Commonwealth speech, King Charles talked about the “painful aspects” of Britain’s connection to slavery and colonialism–but avoided tackling the obvious topic of Reparations.
Gill said that the people of Grenada are asking King Charles to do more than give weak apologies “because blood is on the hands of the British royal family. He is still the head of state of Grenada. And it will not be worthy of him to be the head of state of a country that he profited from in slavery and [for which he] failed to apologise and failed to make Reparations. He will not be a worthy king.”
Baptiste’s finding have been verified by Nick Draper, founder of University College London’s Legacies of British Slave-ownership project and by University of Manchester professor, Edmond Smith.
Smith said the payment document found by Baptiste “might well just be the tip of the iceberg.” Smith also stated “This evidence fits with long-term patterns of colonial exploitation by the British royal family, including repeated efforts to find novel income streams from colonies in the Caribbean.”
So far, there has been no response from Buckingham Palace.
Baptiste finding comes at a time when world wide momentum for Reparations is building.
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