There have been attempts in other countries to draw a line under the question of slavery.
The Dutch King delivered a formal apology, in a move co-ordinated with the country’s prime minister.
But for King Charles and other senior royals, it’s a question that continues to hang in the background, particularly when they visit a former colony or a place where the slave trade had an impact.
Prince William and Catherine’s trip to the Caribbean in 2022 was dogged by rows over whether their visit had too much of the look and feel of a colonial visit.
Any trip planners must look at traditional dancers and garlands and start having nightmares about how it might come across.
But the King, who has been walking this political tightrope for many decades, steered a careful path in Samoa.
“None of us can change the past. But we can commit, with all our hearts, to learning its lessons and to finding creative ways to right inequalities that endure,” he said.
And in a speech that was widely seen as being about the legacy of slavery – he never once actually referred to slavery at all.