King Charles backs studies on the relationship between the British monarchy and slavery

Britain’s King Charles III has shown his support for research into the British monarchy’s historical ties to transatlantic slavery, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported Thursday. The document, published by the Guardian as part of an investigation into the royal family’s historical involvement in the slave trade, shows a transfer of £1,000 of shares in the slave-trading Royal African Company to William III from 17th-century slave trader Edward Colston in 1689. Anti-racism protesters famously toppled a statue of the slave trader in Bristol, southwest England, while demonstrating in solidarity with the US Black Lives Matter movement. The document was found in archives by Dr Brooke Newman, a historian at Virginia Commonwealth University, on a research trip to London in January. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told the Guardian that this was a subject that the King “takes profoundly seriously” and that the royal household would support the project by offering access to the royal collection and the royal archives. The document was found in archives by Dr Brooke Newman, a historian at Virginia Commonwealth University, on a research trip to London in January.