Royal news live: King Charles accepts ‘painful aspects of our past’ as he bids farewell to Samoa

Keir Starmer has faced renewed calls for Britain to pay slavery reparations which could far exceed £200bn as the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chgom) in Samoa gets underway.

A group of 15 Caribbean governments, as part of the Caribbean Community or ‘Caricom’ organisation, have all agreed to table reparations on the Chgom agenda when the group meets.

Defying the UK, with Sir Keir saying he does not want to discuss the matter, a draft communique for the summit places it firmly on the agenda, reading: “Heads, noting calls for discussions on reparatory justice with regard to the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans and chattel enslavement… agreed that the time has come for a meaningful, truthful and respectful conversation towards forging a common future based on equity.”

All three candidates for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General role have supported reparations for transatlantic slavery and colonialism.

Nadine White reports:

The Earthshot Prize gives five finalists £1 million each to help grow their environmental projects.

A winner is selected from each category or environmental challenge: Protect and Restore Nature, Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans, Build A Waste-Free World, and Fix Our Climate.

Both finalists and winners receive dedicated mentorship, resources and support during the year-long Earthshot Prize Fellowship Programme.

In 2021, Costa Rica won the Protect and Restore Nature award.

Since then, the country’s Cocos Island National Park and its surrounding marine protected area expanded to 26 times its size, and the Bicentennial Marine Area covers over 106,000 square kilometres.

The fourth annual celebration of the Prince of Wales’s Earthshot prize will be held in Cape Town, South Africa, next month.

This year, Earthshot Week will be hosted by actor and humanitarian Nomzamo Mbatha from November 4 to November 7.

She will be joined by fellow Earthshot Global Ambassador, Australian photographer Robert Irwin, the son of late wildlife conservationist, Steve Irwin.

The award ceremony, taking place on November 6, will be hosted by Grammy, Emmy and Tony award winner Billy Porter and award-winning television presenter Bonang Matheba.

Mr Porter said: “It’s an honour to co-host this year’s Earthshot Prize Awards and help to celebrate this year’s inspiring innovators working to create a better future for everyone. I’m so inspired by the Earthshot community, and I can’t wait to be part of an evening that celebrates creativity, human ingenuity, and artistry in all its different forms.”

Stars set to perform include the Ndlovu Youth Choir, Grammy award winner, Lebo M, Grammy nominated artist and producer, Davido, artist Diamond Platnumz, and DJ and producer Uncle Waffles.

The ceremony and green carpet hosted by media personality Ebuka, Obi-Uchendu, and rapper and TV presenter Moozlie will be available to watch live globally on The Earthshot Prize’s YouTube channel.

On top of that, supermodel and television host Heidi Klum, actor and activist Nina Dobrev, supermodel and beauty entrepreneur Winnie Harlow and artist and actor Tobe Nwigwe will join the broadcast to announce the winners.

King Charles said the Commonwealth mattered “a great deal” his late mother Queen Elizabeth II, who was seen as a unifying figure among the body.

Charles attended his first Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or Chogm as Britain’s head of state yesterday, where he indirectly acknowledged calls from some of Britain’s former colonies for a reckoning over its role in the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Britain’s handling of its involvement in the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seen by many observers as a litmus test for the Commonwealth’s adaptation to a modern-day world, as other European nations and some British institutions have started to own up to their role in the trade.

The UK has never formally apologized for its role in the trade, in which millions of African citizens were kidnapped and transported to plantations in the Caribbean and Americas over several centuries, enriching many individuals and companies.

Studies estimate Britain would owe between hundreds of millions and trillions of dollars in compensation to the descendants of slaves.

None of us can change the past but we can commit with all our hearts to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to write the inequalities that endure,” said Charles.

The Tower of London is to be illuminated with a poignant light show in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.

Visitors to the immersive after-dark experience will be invited inside the walls of the famous fortress next month to see the historic White Tower transformed with moving images reflecting on the conflicts.

The Luxmuralis sound and light installation, Poppy Fields at the Tower of London, will run for nine nights, from November 8-16, including Remembrance Day.

Falling poppy petals, silhouettes of soldiers and the World War One military medal “For Bravery in the Field” will be among the artwork lighting up the Tower, accompanied by music and poetry recordings.

Ticketholders will also be granted special access to see the Crown Jewels without the usual crowds, and learn about their removal from the Tower during both world wars.

The fashion designers behind Diana, Princess of Wales’s wedding dress have settled a High Court claim over the sale of the drawings for the famous royal gown.

David Emanuel had filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife Elizabeth Emanuel, claiming that she had infringed his copyright by reproducing drawings of the designs on which they had collaborated. The drawings, including those for Diana’s wedding dress, were put up for auction without his consent, he said.

The one-time husband and wife team announced on Friday that they had settled the case “amicably.” Terms of the settlement weren’t released.

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King Charles sipped traditional ava root tea during a Samoan ceremony welcoming him and Queen Camilla to the island nation.

Samoa’s head of state and his village afforded the King the highest accolade by staging an ava ceremony where the drink, prepared by the statesman’s daughter from powdered ava root and representing community unity, was presented to Charles.

The ceremony was held at the National University of Samoa on Wednesday (23 October).

Following custom Charles poured a few drops of the ava away before drinking deeply from a cup, made from a coconut shell, and watched by village elders and dignitaries including Samoa’s prime minister Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.

An Australian senator who protested against the King during his state visit to the country has accused the monarch of refusing to return its “stolen wealth”.

Lidia Thorpe, who campaigns on First Nations issues, disrupted Charles’s welcome to the capital Canberra with an outburst on Monday.

Speaking in an interview with Australian broadcaster ABC on Wednesday, Ms Thorpe defended her actions and said she had been “overwhelmed with supporting messages”.

She said: “For those that don’t agree with what I have said and what I have done, I can tell you now there are elders, there are grassroots Aboriginal people across this country… who are just so proud. They say that it’s lit a fire back in their belly, and they want to join the resistance.

“I don’t listen to the noise of those who have chosen to assimilate into the colonial system, that’s their decision. I’ve decided to be a black sovereign woman and continue our fight against the colony and for justice for our people.”

King Charles has warned Commonwealth leaders against the “existential” threat of climate change, encouraging all 56 members to do everything possible to cut emissions.

He told the summit that humanity needed to “forge a future of harmony with nature and between ourselves” and that climate concerns have been raised with him over and over again.

“This year alone we have seen terrifying storms in the Caribbean, devastating flooding in East Africa and catastrophic wildfires in Canada,” he told the leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Samoa.

“I can only offer every encouragement for action with unequivocal determination to arrest rising temperatures by cutting emissions, building resilience as far as possible to both the current and forecast impacts of climate change, and conserving and restoring nature both on land and in the sea.”

King Charles spoke about his wish for the Commonwealth to be a cause of “hope and healing” as he spoke about challenges on a global scale.

The monarch said in his speech: “As we look from this idyllic place across the world, dark clouds have gathered over many regions, but the Commonwealth can surely be a cause of hope and healing…

“International challenges on such a scale call for international solutions, through dialogue and discussion, for that is where, eventually, peace resides.

“The sheer scale and diversity of Commonwealth membership, spanning the entire globe and embracing more than one-third of the human race, gives us the understanding, the credibility and indeed the clout to play a full role in promoting and protecting peace and prosperity.”