King Charles Arrives in The Bahamas to Launch Caribbean Tour

The King received a warm welcome in The Bahamas tonight as he began what could be a challenging autumn royal tour.

Amid mounting calls for a formal apology and reparations over Britain’s historic role in the transatlantic slave trade, 77-year-old Charles arrived in Nassau, where he was greeted with a full ceremonial welcome as the country’s head of state.

Stepping from the British government’s official Voyager aircraft, His Majesty appeared sprightly and cheerful in a beige summer suit, tie and sunglasses. He descended the steps at Lynden Pindling International Airport to meet a group of dignitaries.

After leaving the plane, the King took his position on a dais as 96 members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force assembled an imposing Guard of Honour and presented a Royal Salute.

Military bands played The Bahamas’ National Anthem before Charles inspected the Guard of Honour. He then climbed into his official car, lowered the window and waved to members of the media and onlookers.

Within hours of landing for the potentially explosive Caribbean tour, the King is due to address the sensitive issue of slavery and reparations, saying: ‘It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering of the past, in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future.’

Although he will not offer an apology or financial compensation, in keeping with government policy, aides say His Majesty will ‘not shy away’ from the growing calls for action that risk overshadowing his visits to The Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda.

Whether that will be enough remains uncertain. The Bahamas National Reparations Committee has already issued the warning: ‘Don’t come empty handed.’

Tonight the 77-year-old monarch arrived in Nassau, the country’s capital, to begin the eight-day visit requested by the British government.

Despite the 10-hour flight, during which he spent much of the time working on papers and speeches, Charles appeared in good spirits and immediately began a series of public engagements.

The Queen will join Charles later in the week.

Buckingham Palace says His Majesty is ‘alive’ to the strength of local feeling, particularly because he is both Head of the Commonwealth and monarch of two countries on this week’s itinerary: The Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda. Calls for action have intensified in both nations. ‘His Majesty will as usual not seek to ignore the past,’ an aide said.

He will therefore address the ‘backdrop of wider discussions on colonial legacy’ directly in several speeches and visit locations with significant links to the practice.

At the same time, the King will remain conscious of the British government’s firm position. While acknowledging the ‘abhorrence’ of the historic transatlantic slave trade and its continuing legacy, ministers reject compensation demands, arguing that the trade was not illegal at the time.

An official apology from the King could be interpreted as opening the door to billions of pounds in claims against the UK.

During his second engagement, Charles addressed the issue directly at a youth rally held at the site where he represented Queen Elizabeth at celebrations marking Bahamian independence from the United Kingdom in 1973.

Reflecting on the shared past while focusing on the aspirations of young Bahamians, he will emphasise how ‘some of what is best in Bahamian culture today – the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright – was born out of darkness’.

Highlighting the traditional Junkanoo, a carnival-style street parade, which in itself has historical roots among what were enslaved people and is now a source of great cultural pride and competition, he will say that ‘each of these groups is a living witness to the way Bahamian culture has been passed down from one generation to the next, each generation not only incorporating but magnifying – and sometimes transforming – that which has come before’.

The King is expected to add: ‘It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering of the past, in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future.’

His Majesty will also make clear that leaders attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua this week will discuss the issue of slavery and reparations, as will he in his opening address.

But he will add that ‘tonight it gives me enormous hope to see the way generations of Bahamians have carried the history, the legacy and the promise bequeathed to you by your ancestors, with pride in your hearts and purpose in your steps’, adding: ‘You have not only carried their legacy, you have nurtured and enhanced it, creatively and courageously, and we have seen tonight what a wonderful gift it is, to The Bahamas and to the world’.

Charles had earlier been welcomed to The Bahamas at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau by a host of dignitaries including Acting Chief of Protocol, Celeste Evans-Williams, Governor-General Dame Cynthia-Pratt and Prime Minister Philip E. Davis.

He was due to ascend a dais to view a 96-strong Guard of Honour comprised of the Royal Bahamas Police Force and the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, who will extend a Royal Salute.

The police and defence force bands will play the Bahamian National Anthem before Charles inspects the troops.

He will spend two nights in the country before moving on to Guyana for a brief State Visit and then finally arriving in Antigua and Barbuda, another Caribbean nation where he remains King, on Friday for CHOGM.

The King will be joined there by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham for their first joint foreign outing.

It is also Charles’ first tour of the Caribbean since acceding the throne and he is said to be mindful of recent tours by the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh to the region, which were beset by difficulties and, in some cases, outright disaster.

Photographs of William and Catherine in 2022 shaking hands with children through a fence in Kingston, Jamaica, and riding in a 1950s Jeep, sparked a wave of criticism and accusations of neo-colonialism.

The optics of the trip deeply concerned William – then the Duke of Cambridge – who spoke openly afterwards of his determination to learn from the experience and of his expectation that he will not inherit his father’s position as Head of the Commonwealth.

Kensington Palace told the Mail this week that the prince’s view hasn’t changed now that he is Prince of Wales.

In September, Jamaica took the unusual step of asking King Charles to refer the UK’s involvement in slavery to the judicial committee of the privy council, the final court of appeal in London for some Commonwealth Realms – bringing the issue firmly to Britain’s door.

Even the secretary-general of the Commonwealth, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, said last week that an apology for slavery ‘wouldn’t hurt’ and that the ‘time had come’ for a discussion about reparations.

Asked whether Charles should apologise, she told Sky News: ‘It wouldn’t hurt to have that [an apology]. Not at all,’ adding on the issue of compensation: ‘I don’t believe we can run away from it.’

Her comments will inevitably heap greater pressure on the King as head of the 56-strong ‘family of nations’, as he navigates a diplomatic tightrope between Commonwealth nations – the majority of which are former British colonies – and the UK government.

Buckingham Palace has stressed the way in which King Charles has, over the years, led from the front for the Royal Family on the issue, acknowledging the wrongs of the past and creating organisations such as The King’s Trust International to create better education and employment opportunities, particularly in developing nations.

The King also has many friends in the region, including President Irfaan Ali of Guyana, who, while being an outspoken advocate for reparations – accusing Britain of exploitation, destroying lives and the creation of underdevelopment in the region for personal gain – is such a fan of Charles’ environmental work that he offered to appear in a recent Amazon documentary about him singing his praises.

They are hopeful that warmth will help avoid awkward public moments, leaving difficult subject matter to be discussed behind the scenes.

The King’s supporters also point to his hugely successful State Visit to the USA earlier this year.

‘He is a lifelong statesman and diplomat, with a sensitive political antenna, and is uniquely placed to deal with the challenges ahead,’ a source said.

A spokesman for the King made clear he would face ‘the most shameful aspects of our past’.

They said: ‘At the request of host Governments, the King’s programme will primarily focus on shining a light on the many modern partnerships and opportunities for the future that are having a transformative effect on the region, as it confronts the challenges of today.

‘For His Majesty, this tour is both a new journey but also the continuance of a lifelong one, in which he has sought to engage, understand and educate about the most shameful aspects of our past. This will therefore also be reflected in differing ways and words during the tour, as you would expect.’