Buckingham Palace has reportedly signalled it is open to Commonwealth realms removing King Charles as their head of state.
A senior aide has said the royal family are “fully open” to the idea, adding: “We have absolutely no difficulty with that”, according to The Times.
It comes after the King completed a fraught nine-day tour of the Caribbean dominated by the controversial topic of slavery reparations. Calls for an apology and reparations from the UK have been growing in recent years.
In a speech launching a Commonwealth summit at the end of the trip, Charles said the transatlantic slave trade “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, but did not offer an apology.
A senior aide told the newspaper: “The King and the royal family are there to serve the people of these regions for as long as they wish. But if they don’t wish it anymore, then we really are fully open to that. The family serves when it’s wanted and if not, then a new arrangement can be found.”
They pointed out that former Commonwealth realms have transitioned to republics before, including Barbados in 2021, and said it is “really all a matter of what countries want to do”.
The source also denied that the palace was blindsided by the prime minister’s decision to say he would be open to apologising for Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, saying: “I talked to the prime minister myself. We were told the terms in which he was proposing to write his op-ed and he’s perfectly entitled to do that.”
A Palace aide said the tour had been “successful” and that the King “relishes” the “tough parts” of his role as monarch and lives for helping the UK renew relationships with nations where political issues are at play.
“I would say, in the round, this has been a complex visit,” they said. “It’s been challenging. It’s been exhausting. It’s been a hot tour across nine days, across three countries, across, well, you can count up the number of engagements yourselves.
“But the takeaway, I think, in the round, is that it’s been very successful, and I think the King has demonstrated his statecraft both by word and deed.
“It’s a great secret weapon to send the King.”
They added: “We have to tread quite a careful line sometimes between government policy and the King’s role.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “It has long been the Palace position that it is up to individual Commonwealth realm nations to determine what is right for them in matters of sovereignty.
“His Majesty is delighted and honoured to serve as Head of State for as long as they may wish, but equally supportive if they choose a different path.
“There is a clear example of a successful transition from a realm to a republic in modern times in the case of Barbados, which demonstrated how that change can be brought about with utmost respect and without the slightest rancour.
“When the nation decided it wanted to change to a republic, His Majesty was delighted to go along to events which marked its transition, and of course it very much remains a supportive member of the wider Commonwealth family, alongside other nations that have followed the same path.
“It’s important to remember that there's actually nothing unusual in this. Seventeen countries transitioned from being realms to republics in the reign of the late Queen. So there is nothing new or unprecedented about it. It's simply a matter of what countries want to do, and what is right for them.”
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