Royal visits to the nearby Caribbean have been overshadowed in the last few years by ever-growing calls for a full apology from the British monarchy for its role in the slave trade.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’ Caribbean trip was beset with accusations that some engagements appeared colonialist and Andrew Holness, the Jamaican prime minister, took the opportunity to announce that the country was “moving on” to become a republic.
The Sussexes visited Jamaica earlier this year for a film premiere.
In 2016, when Harry visited Antigua and Barbuda, a Guardian newspaper article urged: “Prince Harry, show us how woke you are, and atone for the royals’ institutional role in slavery.”
Since then, the Duke of Sussex has left the working Royal family, with his documentary series including criticism of the Commonwealth, which called it “Empire 2.0”.
In his memoir Spare, he wrote of royal finances: “Does the Crown generate tourism income that benefits all? Of course.
“Does it also rest upon lands obtained and secured when the system was unjust and wealth was generated by exploited workers and thuggery, annexation and enslaved people?
“Can anyone deny it?”
‘Personal sorrow at suffering’
Prince Harry’s father, the King, has visited a former slave port in Ghana and spoken several times about the evils of the trade. In Rwanda two years ago, he said he “cannot describe the depths of my personal sorrow at the suffering of so many”.
But in line with the British Government, the monarchy has stopped short of a full institutional apology, which is thought to amount to an admission of guilt that could open the country up to legal action.
If Prince Harry apologised for any way he has inadvertently benefited from the slave trade, one source wondered, would he now be morally if not legally obliged to offer a gesture of reparation of his own?
The Sussexes’ office did not comment on how the couple would be approaching the topic while in Colombia, if at all.
Ms Trevelyan, who is honorary fellow at The University of the West Indies’ PJ Patterson Institute for Africa Caribbean advocacy, said she saw reparations not as political but as a “moral question”.
“The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are uniquely placed during their visit to Colombia to raise the issue of the lasting impact of the transatlantic slave trade and to ask how we can atone for the sins of the past,” she told the Telegraph.
“In his memoir Spare, Harry acknowledged that the Royal family’s wealth was partly derived from slavery. He and Meghan are committed to social justice causes.”
She added that while the King said he was seeking to deepen his understanding, “his son can provide a lead”.
A political source in Colombia said that while the vice-president invited the couple, the Sussexes paid for the trip with “an economic support by international cooperation”, but did not elaborate on which organisations.