King and Queen Tour Antigua Museum Covering Slavery
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the Government House Museum in Antigua and Barbuda on Monday 2 November 2026, as part of their Caribbean tour. The museum holds exhibits on slavery on the island, and the couple were shown them in person.
The King was shown displays explaining the history of slavery in Antigua and Barbuda. These included the Declaration of Emancipation dated 30 June 1834, according to Hello! Magazine. Other displays were headed "Sugar and Slavery", "Emancipation" and "March Towards Freedom", and told the stories of enslaved people on sugar plantations.
One display case held items that drew the King's attention. They included Wedgwood ceramic medallions showing enslaved people, made in support of abolition, along with shackles and a conch shell used by enslaved people. A wall display showed a cross-section of a slave ship that carried enslaved people from Africa to the Caribbean. The couple were also shown three paintings of enslaved people plotting to escape before being captured and brought before their masters.
Buckingham Palace said before the trip that the King would not "shy away" from the "darkest days of our past". The visit to the museum is one of the moments in the tour where that promise was put into practice.
The tour began on 27 October 2026, when the King arrived in the Bahamas, according to The Conversation. The trip covers three countries: the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda. The tour was first announced in August 2026 as a week-long visit that included Antigua and Barbuda, as Reuters reported.
Antigua is also hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, known as CHOGM. This is the gathering where leaders of the Commonwealth, a group of mostly former British territories, meet to discuss shared issues. Leaders were scheduled to meet on the island from 1 November 2026. The King is due to speak at the meeting, and his speech has been described by the palace as "unflinchingly honest".
Slavery and compensation have been a live topic across the region. Reuters reported that calls for reparations have grown during the trip. The King has spoken before of his sorrow over slavery.
For visitors to the museum, the displays offer a close look at documents and objects from the period. For readers following the tour, the stops in the Bahamas and Guyana sit alongside this visit as the King and Queen move between the three countries.
