伦敦，10月2日——白金汉宫周五透露，本月晚些时候，查尔斯国王在访问加勒比地区期间，不会回避英国参与跨大西洋奴隶贸易这一“我们历史上最黑暗的一页”。
LONDON, Oct 2 - King Charles will not shy away from "the darkest days of our past" over Britain's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade when he tours the Caribbean later this month, Buckingham Palace said on Friday.
查尔斯国王与王后卡米拉将先访问巴哈马和圭亚那，随后前往安提瓜和巴布达，出席定于11月1日至4日举行的英联邦政府首脑会议。
Charles and his wife Queen Camilla will visit the Bahamas and Guyana, before heading to Antigua and Barbuda where he will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) which is being held from November 1-4 this year.
此次访问正值加勒比及非洲各国日益强烈地要求英国及其他殖民国家为奴隶制历史承担责任并支付赔偿之际，该议题预计也将在英联邦政府首脑会议上成为焦点。
The trip comes amid growing clamour from Caribbean and African nations for Britain and other colonial powers to pay reparations for their involvement in slavery, with the issue likely to be prominent at CHOGM.
尽管英国政府已明确表示不会支付任何赔偿，但作为巴哈马、安提瓜和巴布达等多个加勒比国家的国家元首，查尔斯国王此前也曾对奴隶制历史表达过痛惜之情。
The British government has ruled out paying any reparations though Charles, who remains the head of state of a number of Caribbean nations including both the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, has previously expressed his sorrow about slavery.
白金汉宫发言人向记者表示：“目前多个场合都在就殖民历史遗留问题以及跨大西洋奴隶贸易对后代产生的深远影响展开讨论。此次访问正值英国与加勒比国家关系发展的重要时刻。”该发言人还指出：“因此，访问行程不会回避国王陛下所称的‘我们历史上最黑暗的一页’；不过，依照东道国的意愿，行程重点仍将放在各国充满活力的当下与充满希望的未来。”
"There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson told reporters, saying the visit was coming at an important time in the relationship between Britain and Caribbean nations.
15至19世纪期间，至少有1250万非洲人被欧洲商人绑架并沦为奴隶，其中英国负责运送的人数估计达320万，是仅次于葡萄牙的第二大奴隶贩运国。
"The visit programme will therefore not shy away from 'the darkest days of our past', as his majesty has described them, but – in keeping with the wishes of our host nations – it will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country." From the 15th to the 19th century, at least 12.5 million Africans were abducted and sold into slavery by European merchants, with Britain responsible for transporting an estimated 3.2 million people, making it the second most active European nation after Portugal.
作为由56个以前英国殖民地为主的国家组成的英联邦组织——该组织涵盖约27亿人口——的领袖，查尔斯国王也支持对英国王室与奴隶贸易的历史关联展开研究。
Charles, who is head of the Commonwealth group of 56 nations – mainly former British colonies – encompassing some 2.7 billion people, has backed research into the British monarchy's own historical links to the trade.
上个月，牙买加政府也正式要求他寻求法律意见，以确定英国是否应支付赔偿，并表示对白金汉宫的介入感到“受到鼓舞”。
Last month, the Jamaican government also formally asked him to seek legal advice on whether Britain should pay reparations and said it was "encouraged" by the engagement of Buckingham Palace.
“重要的是要注意到，国王陛下多年来所做的工作，既承认了过去的错误，也寻找创造性的方式来纠正持续存在的不平等，”宫殿发言人说。
"It is important to note here the work his majesty himself has done over many years both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to right inequalities that endure," the palace spokesperson said.
“因此，正如您所料，此访期间将找到机会，反思并重申他个人全心全意且持续不断地致力于这一进程的承诺。”
"As you would therefore expect, opportunities will be found during the visit to reflect and renew his personal, wholehearted, and continuing commitment to that process."
2月，英联邦秘书长博奇韦告诉路透社，她预计成员国将在开始赔偿谈判方面取得进展。
In February, Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey told Reuters she expected its members to make progress towards beginning negotiations on reparations.