A man we have always known as Prince Charles has just evolved into King Charles III. Charles came into the lime light as an English monarch back in 1981 when he wedded a young beautiful woman known as Diana Spencer. Diana came from a simple British background with little education. The whole world was amazed at the manner of love between the two. And now Charles is King of the United Kingdom.
When I grew up, my mother who was born the same year with Queen Elizabeth always expressed her admiration for King George VI, the father of Elizabeth. In fact my mother had been one of the lucky citizens of Bechuanaland to have seen the king as he visited here in 1947. The king had come to express his supposedly heartfelt gratitude to the people of Bechuanaland for their sacrifices in the Second World War.
My mother always wanted to teach me the UK anthem which is known as “God save the king”, but for some unknown reason I was not interested. My parent and those who grew up with her had a very positive picture of the English monarch. Children were named after Elizabeth using both English and Setswana versions of the name.
Queen Victoria who was the grandmother of Elizabeth had been given the name “Mmamosadinyana” by the three chiefs that went over to England to ask for the maintenance of the protectorate status by the British government over Bechuanaland. So many girls particularly at independence were name Mmamosadinyana. Since I was born on the year of independence, I had two classmates bearing the two names and ironically they were both from Gabane.
Honestly speaking, no one will in this day and era name their child after any one of the English monarchs. Times have changed and the current generation has a completely different view to what our parents held in awe. The English monarch as it were stood for progress and prosperity. It was something to envy.
This is was not the case in many African countries such as Kenya, Zambia and Zimbabwe where they had to fight for their independence. The English monarch stands for brutality and enslavement. People are beginning to question the role of the monarch in emasculating Africa of her dignity in every form. Three million Africans crossed the Atlantic Ocean on open boats like cargo and they were sold in open markets like cattle. All these atrocities happened under the watch of the various kings and queens of England.
And why have people come out to speak about these issues at the time of the death of a ninety-six year old woman. Many are blaming her for superintending over so many of the injustices that happened in places like Kenya and India. Charles III as a new king has a mountain of a challenge ahead of him as people in the very Commonwealth of Nations he is leading are raising their voices against the past.
All are calling for reparations for the injustices that were performed by the British during colonial rule. These are not issues from the 1800s but rather they emanate from the time Elizabeth was on the throne. The starvation of close to 26 million Indians during what was known as the Bengali famine occurred during the Second World War when Elizabeth was of age to even succeed his father had anything happened.
The famine was human induced as agricultural produce were taken and shipped to Britain during the war and a lot of that remained in reserves. Meanwhile many were starving and dying in India. When Prime Minister Winston Churchill was informed of the starvation due to shortage of food, he nastily remarked on the margins of his file; “Why hasn’t Ghandi died yet?”
Churchill was a racist nasty pimpernel who cared less of the garbage that spewed out of his mouth. The same Churchill said, “Gandhi ought to be laid, bound hand and foot, at the gates of Delhi and then trampled on by an enormous elephant while the new viceroy is on his back.” The prime minister of Britain was making such utterances under the watch of the English monarch and Queen Elizabeth II cheered him on.
There is nothing that the monarch did to help the oppressed people to emancipation in any part of the world they colonised. Colonization was primarily for the purpose of enriching the monarchs of England. When slavery was abolished in 1807, the British government went on to compensate slave merchants for their loss of income.
And when nations across the Commonwealth are calling for reparations, the British think they are out of their minds. Namibia has called on Germany to pay it reparations for the 1904 genocide and Germany has refused. This happens while Germany is paying Israel and Poland for the suffering that was caused on them during WWII. This is really double standards as Britain continues to pay reparations to New Zealand for the suffering of the Maori tribes during colonization.
The fact of the matter is; great suffering has been caused on the colonised people and some of whom are still alive. Muthoni Mathenge, a Kenyan national who was tortured brutally during the Mao-Mao uprising and lost a husband is one of the many individuals who are calling on Britain to pay them compensation for personal suffering.
Since Queen Elizabeth II has failed to apologise for the past wrongs overseen by her family, King Charles III has to face this lest the Commonwealth will disintegrate. There is a lot of self-awareness among the people that were colonised and there is nowhere Britain is going to hide.
It is sad for the truth to come out at the time when the UK people are mourning, but the fact of the matter is that the death of the queen is unearthing the whole past and most of it is so unpleasant. That’s the sad reality. This is the end of an era and only King Charles can redeem the UK.
