“The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth,” the King said, BBC News reports.

He said that “shameful chapter of history is one that fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow,” the BBC and The Guardian report.

The King said the more he had learned about the issues, through listening, learning and looking, the more committed he had become to working in modern partnership to address the wrongs of the past, the BBC says.

He did not give explicit support for reparations, The Guardian reports. He pointed instead to education, jobs, trade within the Commonwealth and climate resilience as ways to tackle hardship, the paper says.

“We cannot change the actions of those who came before us,” he said, according to The Guardian. “We can, however, learn from the past.”

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, also at the summit, has said he is open to Britain issuing a formal apology but has ruled out financial reparations, the BBC reports. “I've been very clear that we do not support reparations,” Burnham said, the BBC reports.

The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting gathers leaders from 56 states every two years, the BBC says.

“History is not ours to choose or to change,” the King said, the BBC reports. Palace aides had indicated there would be no surprises in the speech for the UK government, The Guardian says.

What we know: The King spoke of sorrow over the slave trade but did not apologize.
What we don't: Whether Britain will issue a formal apology during or after the summit.