The Prince of Wales has expressed his “personal sorrow” about “slavery’s enduring impact” and addressed the contentious issue of other Commonwealth countries cutting ties with the Royal Family in a speech at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Rwanda.
At the formal ceremonial event in Kigali, which officially starts the leader-level CHOGM meetings, the prince called on Commonwealth leaders to join him in formally recognising the horrors of the slave trade and other difficult aspects of the colonial past.
He said: “To unlock the power of our common future, we must also acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past. Many of those wrongs belong to an earlier age with different, and in some ways lesser, values.”
The prince also told the event that he wants to acknowledge “that the roots of our contemporary association run deep into the most painful period of our history”.
He added: “I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow…
