King Charles stopped short of an apology during his highly-anticipated speech at Tuesday’s State Banquet in Kenya.
The monarch – who had been facing calls for an apology over the country’s colonial past – spoke about Britain’s “abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence” committed against Kenyans during the Mau Mau uprising in the 1950s.
He said: “There were abhorrent and unjustifiable acts of violence committed against Kenyans as they waged, as you said at the United Nations, a painful struggle for independence and sovereignty – and for that, there can be no excuse.”
Kenya’s president, William Ruto, praised the King’s “exemplary courage” over speaking about “uncomfortable truths” but said the colonial reaction to African struggles for sovereignty and self-rule was “monstrous in its cruelty”.
The 74-year-old monarch along with his wife, Queen Camilla, arrived in Kenya late on Monday evening to start their tour.
Earlier, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission called for the monarch to make an “unequivocal public apology.”
It said: “We call upon the king, on behalf of the British government, to issue an unconditional and unequivocal public apology (as opposed to the very cautious, self-preserving and protective statements of regrets) for the brutal and inhuman treatment inflicted on Kenyan citizens.”
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