This week, the Windsors’ historical connections to and profits from the transatlantic slave trade have been in the news like never before. An American historian named Dr. Brooke Newman uncovered documentation from the 17th century which has provided a direct link between slave trader Edward Colson and King William III. These links were already well known and there are (obviously) all kinds of historical records about the British monarchy’s substantial connections to and profits from slavery, but this document is being discussed like it’s brand new information. From the Guardian’s exclusive:
An imposing bronze statue stands tall on the manicured lawns at Kensington Palace, a formidable tribute to William III, who built the palace as a royal residence in the bustling heart of London. William’s namesake, the current Prince of Wales, grew up there with his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, and today it is his official London residence with his wife, Catherine.
Awareness has grown in recent years of William III’s personal investment in the transatlantic slave trade at the time he built Kensington Palace, and of successive English monarchs’ involvement in the industrial-scale enslavement and exploitation of Black people. King Charles III and Prince William have made public statements recently expressing “profound sorrow” at the “appalling atrocity of slavery”, which they said “forever stains our history”. However, neither has explicitly acknowledged the full extent of the monarchy’s role.
At Kensington Palace, in the stories of kings and queens told on the information boards on the public tour, and outside on the William III statue, there is not a word about their links to slavery.
But now a document found in the archives by the historian Dr Brooke Newman, and published for the first time by the Guardian, highlights the involvement of the British monarchy in the appalling trade. The publication of the document has added impetus to calls for the royal family to thoroughly investigate their historical links to transatlantic slavery.
Four lines of elaborately ink-written scrawl state that £1,000 of shares were given to William III in 1689. The shares were in the Royal African Company (RAC), which captured, enslaved and transported thousands of African people, with the monopoly power of a royal charter. The document clearly bears the handwritten name of the now notorious Edward Colston.
Once revered as a philanthropist in his home city of Bristol, Colston has since been exposed by modern campaigners for his slave-trading business, and protesters toppled his statue in June 2020. After Colston transferred the RAC shares, King William III became governor of the company and earned further wealth from it. The royal charter gave the RAC a forcibly protected monopoly to trade in enslaved people from west Africa.
The Slave Voyages database, which collects information from historical research, states that in the 60 years of its operations, the RAC transported 186,827 enslaved people, including almost 24,000 children, to the Americas. More than 38,000 people died during the journeys.
Newman, who is writing a book, The Queen’s Silence, on the British monarchy’s historic involvement in slavery and modern failure to acknowledge it, found the Colston transfer in the National Archives in Kew on a research trip to London in January. She was commissioned as a consultant on the monarchy’s links to slavery by the Guardian’s Cotton Capital project, which has investigated the newspaper’s links to slavery.
Soon after the Guardian revealed this documentation, Buckingham Palace rushed to respond – apparently, under King Charles, the palace is “aiding” a project cosponsored by the Historic Royal Palaces to examine “the historical ties that bind the monarchy and slavery.” Which I believe is a completely separate project from the Guardian’s Cotton Capital project? While the palace didn’t want to speak on the record about this specific documentation between King William III or Edward Colson, the palace said that:
“This is an issue that His Majesty takes profoundly seriously. As His Majesty told the Commonwealth heads of government reception in Rwanda last year: ‘I cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many, as I continue to deepen my own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact,’ ” a palace spokesperson told The Guardian.
“That process has continued with vigour and determination since His Majesty’s accession. Historic Royal Palaces is a partner in an independent research project, which began in October last year, that is exploring, among other issues, the links between the British monarchy and the transatlantic slave trade during the late 17th and 18th centuries,” they continued. “As part of that drive, the royal household is supporting this research through access to the royal collection and the royal archives.”
Here’s where it gets very tricky – notice the careful wording here: “the royal household is supporting this research through access to the royal collection and the royal archives.” The monarchy is famous for refusing academic access to the Windsor archives, the vast records they have of their institutional business dealings, correspondence and decision-making. What *kind* of access is King Charles giving to researchers and academics? I bet the answer is not “unfettered.” But sure, everyone’s giving Charles a cookie because he acknowledged that (gasp) there’s are links between the British monarchy and the slave trade. The bar is in hell – of course he acknowledges the links, because there’s evidence everywhere, in the royal archives, in the archives of governments around the world, in academic archives and on and on.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- 13/11/2022. London, United Kingdom. King Charles III and Prince William at the Remembrance Sunday service at The Cenotaph in London.,Image: 737222082, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Licenced to i-Images Picture Agency. All Rights Reserved. UK copyright law applies to all print & online publications. i-Images space rates apply to all images. Magazines contact agency for fees before use. Images Single use only then repro fees apply. Info@i-images.co Tel: 07860204379, Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Lock / Avalon
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- Britain’s Prince William, Prince of Wales (Centre L) and Britain’s King Charles III (Centre R) arrive to attend the Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph on Whitehall in central London, on November 13, 2022. – Remembrance Sunday is an annual commemoration held on the closest Sunday to Armistice Day, November 11, the anniversary of the end of the First World War and services across Commonwealth countries remember servicemen and women who have fallen in the line of duty since WWI.,Image: 737226857, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: ISABEL INFANTES / Avalon
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- LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 22: (L-R) King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort during the State Banquet at Buckingham Palace on November 22, 2022 in London, England. This is the first state visit hosted by the UK with King Charles III as monarch, and the first state visit here by a South African leader since 2010.,Image: 739545375, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- King Charles III talks with Sir David Attenborough (left) at a luncheon for Members of the Order of Merit, at Buckingham Palace, London. Picture date: Thursday November 24, 2022.,Image: 739915355, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III reacts as he leaves after attending an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743250067, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles III, accompanied by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, attends an Advent Service at The Ethiopian Christian Fellowship Church, in London on December 8, 2022.,Image: 743250243, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- King Charles III greets the crowd after visiting a drop in centre for Syrian victims of the earthquake that hit both Turkey and Syria – Trafalgar Square, London, England, UK on Tuesday 14 February, 2023.,Image: 756028360, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Please credit photographer and agency when publishing as Justin Ng/UPPA/Avalon., Model Release: no, Credit line: Justin Ng / Avalon
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- Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla greet people as they visit Colchester Castle in Colchester, Britain, March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Chris,Image: 760996867, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: CHRIS RADBURN / Avalon
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- Picture: James Glossop/ The Times & Sunday Times POOL PHOTOGRAPH King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla are seen during a visit to Malton, North Yorkshire, where they met food and drink producers with shops in Talbot Yard to hear about locally produced goods and visited a variety of local charitable organisations. Pictured during visit to Bluebird Bakery 05/04/2023,Image: 767445668, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: James Glossop / Avalon
The bar is in hell is right, kaiser. Cooperation is not and will never be a real thing from the grifting monarchy.
Access to archives—always a problem. Best to keep things out. Period.
Acknowledge the wrongs the Windsors have done (and still doing) to the biracial daughter in law and the mixed race grandchildren then we’ll talk.
I saw it argued that “da Crown” vigorously resisted offering information till the Guardian was obdurate abt running with it anyway … and they figured it would look better to “agree” to accede to the research than for “the Crown resisted inquiries” to be an addendum to the story
I guess Kate was on theme when she choose to decorate the living room in Apartment 1A with a painting of a slave child.
Holy shite!! I did not know she did that! Doesn’t she have a degree in art history?
Yes this is from an article with said painting. The whole article is pretty funny. The painting is in the room that they entertained the Obama’s. Here is just a blurb. “But the real comedy of the evening was revealed by reports that Palace officials, upon realizing a painting in the sitting room where the President and First Lady were to be received, was identified by a plaque bearing the name: The Negro Page. Negro! Naturally, the staff was reportedly frantic to cover it up immediately, lest President Obama, the son of a man whose life was directly and adversely affected by British imperialism, think that royal family, a group established and wholly focused on maintaining the idea that they are hereditarily worthier than other people, might subscribe, however unconsciously, to any kind of racist ideology that holds that some people are hereditarily worthier than other people.
They just covered up the plaque, mind you. Not the painting”
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/a-royal-gathering-but-shh
When he starts treating his biracial daughter-in-law and grand children properly then I will believe he is doing something with the research. Until then no I don’t believe what they are trying to sell.
Support the project through reparations. Anything else is meaningless puffery, skullduggery, and surface-level performace.
That’s all that really needs to be said, ThatsNotOkay.
But is he willing to give up all the wealth built on the backs of slavery and theft and exploitation of many people?
Nah. He’s only willing to deliver word salad since he can’t defend the indefensible.
@brassyrebel, exactly, he is REALLY GOOD at saying and doing NOTHING, maybe he can answer questions about how he ALLOWED members of his family (yes I mean you BULLYAM and botox),and the press to treat his daughter in law and grandson whilst they were living as “part” of the FAMILY. Then maybe he can answer questions about why NO person of colour was allowed to work “ABOVE STAIRS”, before the late 60s /early 70s.
Once those questions have been answered can he then tell us how much of his multi million pound fortune and his billion earned from land and property over the last year, he is going to give as reparation
Maybe he would like to explain his comment this weekend that his biracial daughter in law’s wardrobe was funded privately. Seems he got caught in a trap He never paid for any of her clothing
My thoughts exactly. Exploring “ties” between the monarchy and slavery should result in a public accounting of how exactly the monarchy profited from the slave trade. But I doubt we will get that.
As noted by The Guardian in their ‘Cotton Capital’ project: “Slavery was so intimately woven into the economic fabric of the northern economy that any attempt to unpick it would cause the entire edifice to unravel.” Given the fact that UK has endeavored mightily to cover up royal slavery ties and promote themselves as idealists who were first to abolish slavery, it requires the dedication of an “anti-monarchist” (Daily Fail description) like Brooke Newman, PhD.
Slightly off topic but I’m sitting here at Heathrow right now waiting to get on a plane back to NY. While walking around London this week, we saw coronation preparations like bleachers, areas being barricaded. But it didn’t seem there was much excitement in the air. In fact, while buying some souvenirs at a gift shop, the owner was telling me how coronation time won’t be particularly busy for him. He said for every 10 items with the Queens face on it, he only sells 2 of Charles. He told me how Charles has very few supporters and most people don’t like his ugly face- hahahaha.
What exactly is there to research?? The “research” has already been done. With mountains of historical facts and evidence to back it up. All of this is in the public sphere. This amounts to “we’re listening and learning” and “thoughts and prayers”. Nothing but world salad and obfuscation to avoid just simply saying “Yes. we profited from the enslavement of Black people across the world and we’re sorry”. And the reason for that is that the reparations that are OWED would be DUE.
Definitely agreed that the British monarchy doesn’t have to wait to do research because enough evidence is already in that says it needs to DO something.
But I do want to add for the record that the work of historians is never done. There is always more to be learned from the archives. (And a shout-out to the work of archivists, whose labor ensures that scholars who can *use* the documents can actually find them. Too much popular journalism about archival finds erases their labor and acts like the scholar “discovered” it.)
Your latter point about archivists (and I’d include librarians and library staff) is a great one. I’ve seen members of history departments very puffed up giving a talk about something they’ve “found” — in a library or archive where someone else received and described and catalogued it! This is not usually a Dead Sea Scrolls situation where it is found in situ. And sometimes having “found” it is the big accomplishment, since, well, they don’t necessarily always have very much to say about it beyond that. Apologies to the historians on here, obviously there are very good historians out there. 🙂
Yes, I’ve done a lot of historical research on a particular beloved topic and it was not easy, even though people might say “it’s all there in the libraries.” Sure, one piece is here, another in a different library, or maybe it’s in a box of miscellany that librarians haven’t had time or money to look into – I found some interesting things in those boxes.
If you’re doing research on women, as I was, you’ll find that they may not be even named in the records – just “household of women” – or a prominent woman’s personal library would be disbursed instead of kept together as a collection. And when it comes to POC, the research can be even more difficult.
On the historical record, I know, it’s not like it’s some great mystery… Charles II’s brother, an earlier also awful Duke of York, later King James II ran the enterprise initially…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_African_Company
I’ll applaud when the Windsors start giving it all back – the houses, the land, the jewelry, the cash – to people in Africa and Asia and even the UK – everyone whose ancestors they stole from.
Charles had no other choice really. But I predict that the Palace won’t accept the findings just like they reject the research about Queen Charlotte being black.
Amy Bee, I agree: he had no choice and was forced into researching this now. I love that for him and his family!
H&M included a brief history of slavery and the British Empire-Commonwealth. King Willem Alexander is having Leiden University independently research his family. The Guardian researched their own history AND are paying descendants if the enslaved connected to their newspaper. And AFTER they dove into their own past and published an excellent series plus committed to payment, they THEN ran a series on the monarchy’s high price tag, the secrecy of where the miney comes from, stolen jewelry from India, slavery… just a month before the coronation. KC must be flipping out: they were forced to respond. Well done Guardian!
Wait, so he isn’t even supporting it by providing funding? Because that’s what I expected when I saw the headlines, that Charles was funding a project to research the links with slavery.
What’s the point if this project anyways? There is already proof his ancestors were involved. All royals have an ugly history. That’s how they became royals. By being ruthless and evil. They didn’t become kings by being a nice guy. They are never going to give up their riches.
Bitching and moaning about H&M every single day has destroyed “never complain, never explain.” The days of royal secrecy are over, so why not publicize back in October that the archives are open to research (interesting that it coincided with the Queen’s death.) This would show Charles to be somewhat forward-thinking. Instead so much energy is spent on leaking stories about H&M. which just makes him look petty. But, I suppose if your PR people have come from the tabloids, they would feed whatever will make money for the tabloids.
Can’t help wondering if Harry had something to do with this. Maybe he got SOME message out of “racial bias”? While this seems to be nothing more than a PR stunt, its something.
Keep at em Harry!
The Guardian also printed an article recently about their stolen jewels from India!
Charles supports the research into the monarchy’s ties to slavery……..or says he does, anyway.
I think this is the fox guarding the henhouse situation-I really don’t believe any damaging info will be allowed to be published-the monarchy does not want to look bad anymore than it has already.
They are never going to give reparations just like they are never going to pay back all the riches they stole from the Americas, Asia, Africa the list goes on.