King Charlesis speaking about the painful past during his state visit to Kenya.
“It is the intimacy of our shared history that has brought our people together. However, we must also acknowledge the most painful times of our long and complex relationship,” the monarch said.
“The wrongdoings of the past are a cause of the greatest sorrow and the deepest regret,” he continued. “There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence committed against Kenyans as they waged, as you said at the United Nations, a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty – and for that, there can be no excuse.”
CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
“In coming back to Kenya, it matters greatly to me that I should deepen my own understanding of these wrongs, and that I meet some of those whose lives and communities were so grievously affected,” he said.
King Charles attends state banquet in Kenya on Oct. 31, 2023.Chris Jackson/Getty
Chris Jackson/Getty
King Charles' speech also touched on the country’s significance to his family.
“It means a great deal to my wife and myself that, in our coronation year, our first state visit to a Commonwealth country should bring us here to Kenya,” he said. “We both take considerable pride in renewing the ties between the United Kingdom and Kenya, a country that has long held such special meaning for my family.”
He then said in Swahili, “Today, I don’t feel like a visitor.”
“It is well known, I think, that my dear mother, The late Queen, had a particular affection for Kenya and the Kenyan people. She arrived here in 1952 a princess but left as Queen,” the King continued, speaking about howQueen Elizabeth acceded to the throneduring a tour there when her father, King George VI, died unexpectedly. “It is extremely moving to read her diary from that visit, in which she wrote that she did not want to miss a moment of Kenya’s extraordinary landscapes. I really cannot thank you enough for the support Kenya gave her through that difficult time.”
Queen Camilla and King Charles in Kenya on Oct. 31, 2023.Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty
Victoria Jones/PA Images via Getty
King Charles also recalled how his father, Prince Philip, attended the celebrations of Kenya’s independence in 1963 as well as whenPrince William proposed to Kate Middleton in Kenyain 2010.
“It was here, in sight of Mount Kenya, that my son, the Prince of Wales, proposed to his wife, now my beloved daughter-in-law,” he said.
Queen Camilla in Kenya on Oct. 31, 2023.CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
In the run-up to the state visit, some demanded that the Kingapologize forabuses in the colonial period on behalf of the crown. Buckingham Palace said that the royal couple would “acknowledge the more painful aspects of the U.K. and Kenya’s shared history,” when thevisit was confirmedearlier this month, and hinted that there was more to come.
According to theBBC, an estimated 11,000 Mau Mau rebels and others were killed, but unofficial figures estimate much higher numbers. Some estimates say there were as many as 90,000 Kenyans executed, while more than 150,000 were detained.
King Charles speaks in Kenya on Oct. 31, 2023.CHRIS JACKSON/POOL/AFP via Getty
As a constitutional monarch, King Charles is tied to acting on the advice and recommendations of the U.K. government of the day. While Britain has given around $25 million in compensation and — in the words of the then-Foreign Secretary in 2013 — “recognized Kenyans were subject to torture and other forms of ill-treatment at the hands of the colonial administration,” it has not apologized.
Despite pressure from protestors andsome historians, King Charles is not expected to apologize during the trip to Kenya. Writing in the U.K. newspaperThe Observerover the weekend, Harvard University professor and the author of Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain’s Gulag in Kenya Caroline Elkins said Sunday, “Firstly, King Charles III, you need to stop choking on those two words, ‘I apologize.’ Just cough them up.”
“They will probably trigger all sorts of liability issues for you and your government, but at last count, the monarchy is worth over £20 billion, so you could give several quid – some of which were stolen from or earned on the backs of colonized people – to the British taxpayer to cover this,” Elkins pressed.
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Queen Camilla, King Charles, President William Ruto and First Lady Rachel Ruto on Oct. 31, 2023.Chris Jackson/Getty
King Charles and Queen Camilla’s four-day stay was made to help mark the 60th anniversary of Kenya’s independence, which is officially celebrated on December 12.
The royal couplearrived in the capital of Nairobi on Monday eveningand officially kicked off the trip on Tuesday, which came at the invitation of the Kenyan President Dr. William Ruto.
The King and President, 56, spoke about shared interests between Kenya and the U.K., while Camilla checked out a gallery of images capturing the work of the First Lady’s organization, Mama Doing Good, which focuses on the environment, climate action and the economic empowerment of women.
King Charles visits Kenya on Oct. 31, 2023.Chris Jackson/Getty
King Charles and Queen Camilla later moved to the Uhuru Gardens and National Monument and Museum to immerse themselves in Kenyan history. The King and President laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior and viewed the Mũgomo Tree at the site of the declaration of Kenya’s independence in 1963.
Inside the museum, the royals met local schoolkids and viewed exhibits on Kenyan history and the timeline to the country’s independence.
In a poignant turn at the Uhuru (which means “freedom” in Kiswahili) garden, Charles and Camilla acknowledged the statues of Mekatilili wa Menza and Dedan Kimathi, who fought for Kenyan independence, before touring the Hall of Witness. They also walked through the Tunnel of Martyrs, which remembers those Kenyans who have lost their lives in conflict throughout the nation’s history.
source: people.com
