King Charles and Queen Camilla Set Off on Caribbean Tour
King Charles and Queen Camilla begin a nine-day tour of the Caribbean on Tuesday 27 October, visiting the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda until 4 November.
The Antigua and Barbuda leg is for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the regular gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth, a group of countries that were mostly once part of the British Empire. Hello Magazine reports that Buckingham Palace said the tour will celebrate "the communities, cultures and nature" within the Commonwealth family.
The King will make three speeches during the tour. It is his first visit to the Caribbean since 2021, when he travelled to Barbados as the country became a republic. That change removed the late Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, so Barbados now has its own president.
The visit comes as calls for an apology and compensation for slavery grow. A republic-era debate about the past is not new, but the timing is sharper now. The BBC reported on 2 October that the King is expected to face renewed calls to apologise and over potential reparations, the payments made to address past wrongs. The Telegraph reported on 25 October that there are calls for Britain to pay trillions in slavery reparations ahead of the visit.
The palace's position on those calls is set out in two parts. Hello Magazine reports that the King is not expected to issue an official apology for Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade, in line with government advice. The same report says Buckingham Palace stated that acknowledging the wrongs of the past will be built into the King's programme in all three countries. Marie Claire reported on 3 October that the King will not offer reparations during the tour.
Historian and author Sir Anthony Seldon told the BBC on 24 October that the trip is "the biggest risk of his reign so far with so much just outside of his control."
Who speaks for the palace on the day will matter as much as the programme. Royal tours are planned by the palace, but the wording of speeches and the government advice behind them sit in the background.
