King Charles was advised by the UK government not to apologise for the UK's role in the transatlantic slave trade, and any future apology now hinges on Prime Minister Andy Burnham's stance.
The King completed his Caribbean tour, which ran from October 27 to November 4. Before the autumn trip, slavery was expected to dominate discussions, as many Caribbean nations seek an apology and reparations for the UK's historic role in the slave trade.
The Daily Express was told the King, who is guided by the Government's advice, would not "shy away" from the issue during the tour but would not issue an apology or offer financial compensation.
Tour Acknowledges Past Suffering
Within hours of arriving in the Bahamas, Charles acknowledged "the great suffering of the past." In Guyana, he visited the site where slaves were publicly executed. In Antigua and Barbuda, he looked at enslavement artefacts and former slave quarters.
In his CHOGM speech, he said the UK's role in the slave trade "fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow."
The trip threatened to be thrown off course when Prime Minister Andy Burnham wrote in the Guardian that he was "open" to issuing an apology for slavery, marking a change in Government policy.
Palace Response to Policy Shift
The Palace insists the King was not blindsided by its publication on Friday night, just as Charles was landing in Antigua and Barbuda for the final leg of his trip.
"We were told in a timely manner by the Prime Minister," a senior aide said. "We were told the terms in which he was proposing to write his op-ed and he's perfectly entitled to do that."
They added that the change did not cause a rift: "That's how our democracy functions. If that's what elected politicians want to do, it's not for us to get in the way."
Any comments the King makes on slavery reflect the Government's position, not his personal one, due to the issue having caused a sharp political divide in the UK.
Asked if Charles could ever apologise for slavery, the aide said: "The King is the crown, the crown is the state, the state is run by an elected government, so we have to see how this whole situation plays through."
King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived back in the UK on November 5.
