King Charles III arrived in Kenya amid controversial British colonial past

King Charles III and his wife, Camilla, arrived in Kenya on Monday evening, October 30, for a three-day visit, during which he promised to take into account “the most painful aspects” of the history between London and Nairobi.

For his first visit to a Commonwealth country, King Charles III chose Kenya, the country where his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, assumed the English throne in 1952, where his son, Prince William, asked for the hand of his wife, Kate Middleton. After his face-to-face meeting with President William Ruto, the king’s program will consist of meetings with Nairobi entrepreneurs and nature protection associations.

The four-day visit by the King, 74, and Queen Camilla, 76, comes just before Kenya celebrates 60 years of independence in December and “will highlight the strong and vibrant partnership between the UK and Kenya”, the British embassy said in a statement. It will allow “highlight the best of this country, of its young tech entrepreneurs” as well as its “magnificent forests and coastline”, indicated the official account of the royal family on X (formerly Twitter).

But the trip of the royal couple will also allow us to discuss “ the most painful aspects of the shared history of the United Kingdom and Kenya » in the years before independence, provided Buckingham Palace. Between 1952 and 1960, more than 10,000 people were killed in Kenya following the Mau Mau revolt against colonial power, one of the bloodiest repressions of the British Empire. After years of litigation, London agreed in 2013 to compensate more than 5,000 Kenyans, but some are waiting for the king to issue a formal apology for Britain’s past actions.