Study Reveals King George IV Profited from Slave Labor in Grenada

By Staff, Agencies

A newly published study has revealed that Britain’s King George IV personally profited from slave labor on Caribbean plantations, fueling renewed calls for the monarchy to confront its colonial legacy.

According to independent researcher Desiree Baptiste, archival documents from 1823–24 show the king received £1,000 (equivalent to over £103,000 or $138,000 today) from two Crown-owned estates in Grenada that were worked by enslaved laborers.

The funds were deposited directly into the monarch’s private accounts to support his lavish lifestyle.

Baptiste, a Grenadian scholar of 19th-century transatlantic slavery, shared her verified findings—titled Slaves the Property of His Majesty: George IV and Grenada—with Reuters, noting the monarchy has never publicly acknowledged profiting from slavery in the Caribbean.

Her research follows a 2023 revelation that King William III held shares in the Royal African Company, which trafficked thousands of Africans during the slave trade.

Baptiste’s work has been verified by University of Manchester’s Prof. Edmond Smith and UCL’s Dr. Nick Draper, a leading expert on Britain's slave-owning legacy.

Smith said this discovery may be "just the tip of the iceberg" and part of a broader pattern of royal exploitation of colonial wealth.

Although King Charles expressed regret for the monarchy’s role in slavery during a 2022 Commonwealth address, Buckingham Palace did not respond to recent requests for comment on the new findings.