Royal news live: King Charles drinks narcotic kava tea in Samoa ceremony ahead of slavery reparations debate

A growing call for reparations for transatlantic slavery is set to take centre stage at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm), with several Caribbean nations and the African Union leading the charge.

Despite this rising movement, British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer stated that the UK would not raise the issue of reparations during the summit.

However, he expressed openness to engage in dialogue with leaders who wish to discuss the matter.

The Caribbean Community (Caricom) has established a commission aimed at securing reparations from former colonial powers, including the UK, France, and Portugal. Advocates argue that the enduring legacy of slavery has contributed to significant racial inequalities that persist to this day.

Opponents, on the other hand, claim that modern nations should not be held accountable for historical wrongs committed centuries ago.

A source from Caricom highlighted the significance of the summit for raising the issue in an interview with Reuters, noting, “Chogm presents an important opportunity for dialogue on reparations, and the region is keen to table it.”

Kingsley Abbott, director of the University of London’s Institute of Commonwealth Studies, echoed this sentiment, saying, “It is a priority for many of the Commonwealth’s member countries, and whenever those affected by atrocities ask to talk, there should always be a willingness to sit down and listen.”

The history of the transatlantic slave trade remains a deeply painful chapter for millions of descendants across the globe. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, an estimated 12.5 million Africans were forcibly taken from their homeland, with many enduring the harrowing Middle Passage. Those who survived were subjected to harsh, inhumane conditions, primarily on plantations in the Caribbean and the Americas, enriching European empires at their expense.

The leaders of the Commonwealth group of nations will meet at a welcome banquet in Samoa in the South Pacific today, with climate change and reparations for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade on the agenda of summit discussions.

Leaders and officials from 56 countries with roots in Britain’s empire, as well as King Charles, are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in the small island nation, that began on Monday. The countries’ foreign ministers also began a day of discussions today.

More than half of the Commonwealth’s members are small states, many of which are low-lying island nations at risk from rising sea levels due to climate change.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said ocean temperatures are rising in the Pacific Islands at three times the rate worldwide, and its population is “uniquely exposed” to the impact of rising sea levels.

“Climate change is an is an existential threat. It is the number one national security threat. It is the number one economic threat to the peoples of the Pacific and to many members of the Commonwealth,” Australian foreign minister Penny Wong told a news conference after a meeting with counterparts.

A number of African countries, including Zambia, warned the meeting about the escalating impacts of climate change, including the effects on food security, she added.

Charles will also be shown the impact of rising sea levels which are forcing people to move inland, a Samoan chief said. Island leaders are expected to issue a declaration on ocean protection at the summit, with climate change being a central topic of discussion.

The former editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair has given a scathing assessment of Meghan Markle, claiming she is “flawless about getting it all wrong”.

Tina Brown, who led the magazine for eight years until 1992, is no stranger to ranting about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, having previously dubbed the couple as being “addicted to drama” and branding their exit from the royal family as a “disaster”.

She has now continued her tirade as she laid into Meghan’s judgement on The Ankler podcast.

“The trouble with Meghan is that she has the worst judgement of anyone in the entire world,” she told podcast host Janice Min.

She added: “All of her ideas are total crap, unfortunately.”

This comes amid apparent delays surrounding the duchess’s new lifestyle brand, American Riviera Orchard.

Can the royal family and King Charles adapt to the modern age and stay relevant? Will Harry be able to rejoin The Firm? And what will the next generation of royalty be like?

These and more questions from our audience were answered in The Independent’s premium event on the future of the royal family.

Hosted by assistant editor Victoria Harper, the panel features bestselling authors Anna Pasternak and Tessa Dunlop, plus royal historian Jonathan Spangler.

Watch the full event here. If you enjoy our virtual events, please consider supporting The Independent with a donation or by subscribing to Independent Premium.

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has insisted that she did not break her parliamentary oath by protesting King Charles’s appearance.

The Indigenous senator made headlines around the world when she accused the monarch, 75, of genocide and shouted: “You’re not my King!”

Ms Thorpe took her oath in 2022 when Queen Elizabeth II was still the reigning monarch.

She told ABC on Wednesday: “I swore allegiance to the Queen’s hairs if you listen close enough. It wasn’t her ‘heirs’. It was her ‘hairs’.”

Locals in a small Samoan village have spoken of their excitement ahead of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s arrival.

Tuuu Schwenke, who lives in Siumu, said she could have never dreamed of the monarch visiting and said it means a great deal to the village, where the population is around 2,000 people.

“Who doesn’t want to meet the king?” she said, smiling.

“No one ever dreamed about the king coming to our village and knowing that he will be staying here is something that we take pride in and look forward to. This means a lot to us.”

The Australian senator who dramatically protested King Charles’s Parliament House appearance has said the monarch has “stolen wealth”.

Lidia Thorpe, who accused the King of genocide and said that he was not her monarch, made the comments in the wake of her controversial outburst.

She told ABC on Wednesday: “I’m sorry Charlie, but you can’t come here and think that you can say a few nice words about our people while you still have stolen goods.

“You are in receipt of stolen goods, which makes you complicit in theft.”

Ms Thorpe, an Indigenous mother and grandmother, added: “This country wants to swear allegiance to a king from another country whose ancestors have been responsible for massacres, so many massacres in this country, killing our children and our women.

“Why would I, with my hand on my heart, kneel to an oppressor?”

The shadow deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden took the opportunity to pay tribute to King Charles during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

During a fiery exchange with Angela Rayner, he described the king as someone “we can all agree is a hardworking person”.

The comments come amid the monarch’s ongoing tour of Australia and Samoa, which he has been praised for undertaking during his ongoing cancer battle.