Kanisa George

Once again, the eyes of the world lay fixed on the British throne. Scenes from Buckingham Palace unfolded plainly before our eyes, denoting a sombre yet resplendent air which reverberated across the globe.

Once news of the death of one of the longest reigning monarchs broke, social media became overburdened by a mix of scenes of majesty and melancholy, matched against memes and videos that expressed views of delight over the matriarch's death.

To some, the British Crown represents splendour, pageantry, and the resiliency of the throne in the modern day. To others, it's a mere show of pomp, a fantastical regime that has at its helm the stolen spoils of its subjects obtained through systematic hate, violence and genocide.

Most of us have some knowledge of our colonial past, and though lessons of the past have brought us to our present existence, we sometimes forget that our story isn't singular. We are all part of a history, and most might argue, ruled by the iron fist of the British Empire where riches of the new world were stolen from its rightful owners to enrich the Crown. In many ways, some argue that commonwealth nations have significantly benefited from the influence of colonialism, with others holding firm that this is far from accurate.

The undeniable truth is that most nations once under British rule feel robbed of the plunder used to advance the motherland. And in many regards, sorrow and regret are not enough. What some countries have been clamouring for in recent times is reparation. In particular, reparation from nations responsible for the transatlantic slave trade. And at the top of the list is the British monarchy.

The issue of reparation has been canvassed mainly over the last decade or so. And countries like India and even our Jamaican counterparts are fervently arguing for compensation in the form of reparation.

Reparation is recognised as compensation given for abuse or injury. Typically, it serves to acknowledge the obligation of a state, individual or group in repairing the consequences of violations it has either directly committed or failed to prevent. According to journalist Hannah Stevens, the term reparation has a complicated history marred by the compensation for human rights abuses. Interestingly, when slavery was outlawed across the British Empire by the Slavery Abolition Act, slave compensation was paid by the British government for the loss of slaves.

It is estimated that the UK treasury paid approximately £20 million, around £300 billion in today's currency, in reparations. Not to slaves or commonwealth nations but to the 3,000 families who owned slaves. Even more interesting is that the UK government only paid off the interest attached to these payments in 2015.

The concept of reparation isn't new. Several countries still make payments for their role in atrocious human rights violations. For example, the Treaty of Versailles, often touted as the instrument that ended World War I, saw Germany signing what is known as the war guilt clause,