Francesca Jackson: What Does the Debate Over Slavery Reparations Tell Us About the Cardinal Convention, Soft Power and the Public Service Monarchy?

There is a good reason why the constitutional convention requiring the monarch to exercise his prerogative powers on the advice of his government is known as the ‘Cardinal Convention’: it is ‘the most fundamental’ constitutional convention relating to the monarchy – something King Charles is finding out when it comes to slavery reparations. At a recent Summit of Commonwealth leaders in Samoa, many representing countries most affected by Britain’s legacy of colonialism and slavery, the King made headlines when he stated that ‘None of us can change the past. But we can commit…to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure’. Did these comments signal royal approval of some form of reparations for slavery? If his past words and actions are anything to go by, there is evidence to suggest that King Charles is personally open to the idea. For example, in Kenya last year the monarch spoke of his ‘deepest regret’ for the ‘wrongdoings’ of the past, whilst in Rwanda in 2022 the then-Prince of Wales expressed his desire to ‘find new ways to acknowledge our past.’ Going beyond just words, in 2023 His Majesty also gave permission for full access to be granted...