Prince Charles ‘wants slave trade to be taught as widely as Holocaust’

Prince Charles reportedly wants schools to teach more widely about the transatlantic slave trade

Prince Charles believes Britons have a lack of knowledge about the transatlantic slave trade (PA)

Prince Charles has reportedly called for the history of trafficking by slave traders of African people to be taught as widely as the Holocaust in Britain.

According to reports, the Prince of Wales believes the gap in Britons’ knowledge regarding the transatlantic slave trade must be bridged.

A royal source told The Sunday Telegraph that Charles had noted that, “at a national level, we know and learn at school all about the Holocaust”.

“That is not true of the transatlantic slave trade,” the source continued, adding: “There’s an acknowledgement that it needs to happen.”

The source insisted, however, that the heir to the throne was not trying to shape education policy, but was instead keen for the public to become better educated on the period, himself included.

It comes after Prince Charles shared his “sorrow” for the suffering caused by slavery at the opening of a Commonwealth summit in Rwanda.

Charles said he was on a ‘personal journey of discovery’ (REUTERS)

He stopped short, however, of an apology for his family’s historic involvement.

The senior royal told the gathering of world leaders that the potential for good could not be realised until “we all acknowledge the wrongs which have shaped our past”.

Charles said in his speech that he was on a “personal journey of discovery” and was continuing to “deepen his own understanding of slavery’s enduring impact”.

“Quite simply, this is a conversation whose time has come,” he told the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).

For centuries, the royal family participated in the trade, either supporting and facilitating the activity, or benefitting financially from it.

Prince Charles’ visit to Kigali was prefaced by a row over comments he reportedly made criticising the government’s scheme to send asylum seekers to the east African nation.

The Prince of Wales is said to have branded the scheme “appalling” in private comments.

Mr Johnson previously said that critics should “keep an open mind” over the policy and that he was prepared to defend it to the senior royal.