British black newspaper The Voice, which King Charles III guest edited at the end of August, say they think the new monarch is positioning himself as ”progressive” and they hope he continues to support the black community.
In August, King Charles worked with The Voice for its special edition celebrating the paper’s 40th anniversary which focused on topics such as cohesion, education, arts, and the Commonwealth.
Britain’s history is marked by its central role in the slave trade and colonial rule over much of Africa and the Caribbean, to which Charles, has expressed his deep sorrow.
Editor of The Voice, Lester Holloway, says it was not a surprise that the king touched on the matter of diversity as well as his leadership of the Commonwealth. Holloway says he believes that with King Charles being the United Kingdom’s first post-colonial monarch, he believes that Britain and the Commonwealth have entered a new era.
“We hope and we expect that he shows continued allyship with the black community. Monarchs do have a lot of power behind the scenes. We don’t always know exactly what it is, but they do have power, and I hope that he does use that. I think it will go a long way to defining his legacy,” says the paper’s editor.
In a televised message on Friday, a day after Queen Elizabeth II passed on at her Balmoral home in Scotland, Charles reflected on his mother’s promise to devote her life to the service of her people, a vow he pledged to emulate “throughout the remaining time God grants me”.
“Wherever you may live in the United Kingdom, or in the Realms and territories across the world, and whatever may be your backgrund or beliefs, I shall endeavour to serve you with loyalty, respect and love, as I have throughout my life,” said the king.
Charles also said he had made his eldest son William the new Prince of Wales and he expressed his love for younger son Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, whose exit from their royal roles two years ago caused a deep rift within the family and provoked a major crisis in the monarchy.
Remarking on King Charles’ expression of love for Prince Harry and Meghan, reporter from The Voice, Leah Mahon, says the king’s acknowledgement of the couple and their life overseas is a step towards repairing relations between the monarchy and the Sussexes.
“People in our community would have noticed that. They would have seen that as, again, a stepping stone to sort of build that bridge. And I think they would have been very happy that he [Prince Harry] was acknowledged and their [the |Sussexes] life overseas was acknowledged. When we look at sort of what they’ve been through as a couple in the past few years, that is an acknowledgement that things are moving forward, most certainly. But like I said, I think it’s a case of acknowledging that and seeing where the where the new king moves forward in terms of that relationship with them.”
Mahon also says the king’s focus on realms and territories was very significant to the communities the publication represents.
Looking to the future, Holloway says the black British community hope to see the monarchy take action on the issue of reparations.
“We want to have real hard conversations about reparations, about the institution taking real accountability for that. So as a paper and as a community, we’re going to be steering those very difficult conversations. And this collaboration with the now King was a chance to create that stepping stone,” he concludes.
