Royal involvement in the slave trade can be traced back to 1564 when Queen Elizabeth I provided the slave trader John Hawkins with an armed ship The Jesus (of Lubeck) to repel any foreign resistance. Moreover, the Queen received her share of the profits and promptly rewarded Hawkins with a knighthood. The Queen provided Sir John, as he now was, with two more warships to accompany him on a subsequent slave trading adventure in 1567.

After the restoration of the monarchy in England in 1660, King Charles II established the Royal Adventurers, a company with a 1,000 year monopoly to trade on the Guinea Coast (West Africa), principally in slave, but also in gold and ivory. (The gold subsequently, brought back from the region was turned into ‘guineas’ by the Royal Mint – the name reflecting its origins.) One of the prime movers in this enterprise was the Duke of York, the King’s brother, who had a good knowledge of the Guinea coast after several adventures. However, the subsequent charter of 1663 revealed the King and several other members of the Royal Family to be investors.

When the Royal Adventures floundered, the Royal Africa Company took its place. Again, this trading enterprise enjoyed a monopoly and had both the King and his brother, the Duke of York, as shareholders. This monopoly lasted until 1698, where upon its withdrawal; other company legally entered the trading fray. During the years of its monopoly it has been estimated that it ‘exported’ nearly 90,000 slaves to the Americas.

The Duke of Clarence, son of King George III (the royal who supposedly went mad!) was very much a pro-slavery spokesperson in the House of Lords in the late 18th century. The Duke suggested that enslaved Africans were well cared for in the West Indies and argued that the financial well-being of Britain’s colonies, navy and merchant shipping industry was dependent on the slave trade.