Prince Charles guest edits Black British newspaper ' The Voice'

Record ID: 1686692

  • Title: Prince Charles guest edits Black British newspaper ' The Voice'
  • Date: 30th August 2022
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF OLD FRONT PAGES OF THE VOICE NEWSPAPER
  • Embargoed: 13th September 2022 16:48
  • Keywords: Prince Charles The Voice newspaper
  • Location: LONDON AND TILBURY, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / LAGOS, NIGERIA
  • City: LONDON AND TILBURY, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM / LAGOS, NIGERIA
  • Country: UK
  • Topics: Arts/Culture/Entertainment,Europe,Royals
  • Reuters ID: LVA00F156230082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Britain's Prince Charles has guest edited an edition of the country's only Black newspaper to mark its 40th anniversary, honouring the contributions of African-Caribbean communities to the arts and society.
    The Voice newspaper records Charles' "long-standing collaboration with Black leaders", his office said, as the royal family increasingly engages with Britain's legacy of slavery and the country's colonial past.
    "Over the last four decades, with all the enormous changes that they have witnessed, Britain's only surviving Black newspaper has become an institution and a crucial part of the fabric of our society," Charles said.
    "This is why I was so touched to be invited to edit this special edition."
    The special edition of the newspaper, which was founded in 1982, is out on Thursday (September 1).
    “Prince Charles became involved because he really wanted to pay tribute to The Voice in our 40th anniversary, and we wanted to find out what he'd been doing over the last 40 years," The Voice editor Lester Holloway told Reuters on Tuesday (August 30).
    "And what we found was that there were some parallels in work on a range of issues from boosting Black entrepreneurship and Black business to tackling hate crime and many other areas as well. So we told that story through the eyes of prominent Black figures who've been involved in that in these areas and how they've been working with Prince Charles and his foundations."
    The special edition looks at themes such as cohesion, education, arts, and the Commonwealth.
    Britain's history is marked by its central role in the slave trade and colonial rule over much of Africa and the Caribbean. Charles, who is the heir to the throne, has expressed his deep sorrow over slavery.
    The so-called Windrush generation of post-war migrants from the Caribbean, named after the first ship to bring them, have continued to suffer injustice. In 2018, Britain apologised after thousands were denied basic rights despite having lived in Britain for decades and dozens were wrongly deported.
    The paper includes a piece on an art exhibition to mark the 75th anniversary of Windrush and an interview with Doreen Lawrence, the mother of a schoolboy murdered by racists in 1993, who has set up a partnership in his memory to provide art scholarships, supported by the Prince's Foundation.
    There is also an interview with Booker Prize winning author Bernardine Evaristo, while actor Idris Elba talks about how a grant from Charles' Prince’s Trust helped him forge a successful career as an actor.
    “I mean, I can't say anything, but it was really pivotal and great and I'm so thankful for it," Elba told Reuters about the grant at a recent film premiere.
    Last year Charles travelled to Barbados for a ceremony where the Caribbean nation ditched Queen Elizabeth as head of state, forging a new republic as it reappraises its relationship with its former colonial power.
    Charles's son William's own tour to the Caribbean in March was overshadowed by protests over Britain's role in slavery, and criticism that the trip reflected a throwback to colonial times.
    “I hope our readers will look at the edition with an open mind, even those that may be sceptical about the royal family," Holloway said.
    "There are elements of our readers that were a little bit surprised and sometimes maybe even upset about the collaboration that we've done. But I hope that they actually look at the content itself, the interviews, what people are saying, and then make up their minds after looking at it."
    (Production Gerhard Mey, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, Alistair Smout)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains images from newspapers or magazines. User is responsible for obtaining additional clearances before publishing this clip.
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