King Charles acknowledges ‘suffering of the past’ as Caribbean tour begins

King Charles has arrived in the Bahamas for a nine-day Caribbean tour, the first time he has visited the region as monarch. The King, wearing sunglasses and a grey suit, was given a ceremonial welcome at the airport before attending a youth rally. Prior to the trip, Buckingham Palace said the King would not shy away from “colonial legacy” and the impact of the slave trade during the visit but, in line with the UK government’s position, he will not apologise for Britain’s role in the slave trade or offer reparations.

Appearing at his first engagement, he told young people it is “only right” to “acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past”. Upon arriving on the island, he met the island’s Governor General, Dame Cynthia A. Pratt and its Prime Minister, Philip Edward, before speaking with members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force as he inspected a guard of honour on the runway.

The King was then met with cheers as he arrived for his first engagement at a youth rally at Clifford Park, where he attended the island’s independence celebrations as Prince of Wales in 1973. During his speech, the King acknowledged his 50-year commitment to fighting climate change and highlighted the challenges faced by low-lying Caribbean islands, saying, “our world cries out for healing”.

He went on to call on the young people at the rally to “take up the sacred task to play your part” as “in years to come, this will surely be the measure of every person – how they answered the call to care for planet earth – the source of our life, our prosperity and our security”. The King spoke with young people as he attended his first engagement of the trip Buckingham Palace said opportunities for the King to reflect on the legacy of the slave trade will be built into his schedule in all three countries with visits planned to memorials and other places of reflection and remembrance.

A palace spokesperson told the BBC that the King’s programme on the tour “will primarily focus on shining a light on the many modern partnerships and opportunities for the future”, specifically those “having a transformative effect on the region”. For the King, the spokesperson added, the “tour is both a new journey and 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”.

The palace said the King will reflect those themes through the nine-day visit. The visit has been planned alongside the governments of the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, with an emphasis on honouring the past while also looking ahead to ambition and possibility for future generations. The King will move to Guyana later this week, where his engagements will focus on the environment and biodiversity.

He will then visit Antigua and Barbuda, where Queen Camilla will join him for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and his keynote speech as leader of the Commonwealth. CHOGM is a biennial summit which brings together leaders of 56 Commonwealth countries to address shared challenges and advance cooperation.