Idris Elba Tells King Charles "Sorry About the Rain" in Antigua

Actor Idris Elba told King Charles "Sorry about the rain" when the two men met by chance at Nelson's Dockyard in Antigua on Monday, 2 November, according to HELLO!.

The King was touring the historic dockyard ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the regular gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth, a group of mostly former British territories. Shortly before the greeting, he had placed an engraved stone into a wall. HELLO!'s royal editor, Emily Nash, was present at the encounter, the magazine says.

HELLO! reports that Elba shook the King's hand and asked "How are you?" The King replied with a question of his own: "What are you doing here?" Elba answered, "I get around," and both men laughed.

ITV News headlined it as "Sorry about the prime minister," which led to speculation that Elba had been referring to the British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham. HELLO! says the words were "Sorry about the rain," which fits the weather. The King and Queen Camilla had been caught in a downpour at Antigua and Barbuda's independence celebrations the Sunday before.

The meeting comes as Prime Minister Burnham has said he is open to discussing a formal British apology for the transatlantic slave trade. He has ruled out financial reparations. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch criticised that position, arguing it risked putting pressure on the King before his address to Commonwealth leaders. Neither point was raised in the exchange between the King and Elba.

Elba has a link to the royal family's charity work of an earlier era. As a teenager he received a £1,500 grant from what was then the Prince's Trust, the youth charity, to attend the National Youth Music Theatre. The award helped fund his training in performance.

Elba is known to audiences for roles in The Wire, Luther and a string of films. The King is in Antigua for the Commonwealth meeting.