U.K. sending King Charles into political fray as its ‘secret weapon’, aide says

CTV News · Reuters Staff · 2026-11-06 13:50 UTC

King Charles is “a secret weapon” being increasingly thrust by the British government into dealing with challenging political situations, a senior royal aide has said following a diplomatically challenging trip by the monarch to the Caribbean.

LONDON -- King Charles is “a secret weapon” being increasingly thrust by the British government into dealing with challenging political situations, a senior royal aide has said following a diplomatically challenging trip by the monarch to the Caribbean.

The trip, which also included a meeting of the Commonwealth of Nations, which Charles heads, was dominated by the issue of slavery, and specifically whether Britain and the King should apologize for the transatlantic slave trade and offer to pay reparations.

The King did neither in speeches he made, in line with British government policy, but his expression of personal sorrow about the horrors of slavery was broadly welcomed by leaders of the 56-nation Commonwealth as a positive step forward.

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