The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tour of the Caribbean for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee has been criticised over the royals’ connection to colonialism and slavery.
An open letter by Jamaican public figures says: “We see no reason to celebrate 70 years of the ascension of your grandmother to the British throne because her leadership, and that of her predecessors, has perpetuated the greatest human rights tragedy in the history of humankind.”
But what has the monarchy got to do with slavery and colonialism? How has it benefited from these systems of exploitation and expropriation?
1. Funding slavery voyages
The British monarchy was central to the establishment, expansion, and maintenance of the British empire and the transatlantic slave trade. The declaration of English empire was first made by Henry VIII in 1532. Elizabeth I granted a royal charter (an instrument of incorporation) to Sir John Hawkins, widely considered one of the first English traders to profit from the slave trade. She also granted a charter to the British East India Company in 1600.
After Elizabeth’s death, Charles II formed the Royal African Company in 1660, led by the Duke of York (later James II), which extracted goods such as gold and ivory from the Gold Coast, and transported over 3,000 Africans to Barbados. Many of these people had the initials “DY” burned into their skin to signify their belonging to the Duke of York. Both men invested private funds in the company.
