By: Staff Writer
October 6, 2026
King Charles III and Queen Camilla will meet with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, Indigenous leaders, British businesses and young scientists and environmentalists during a two-day visit to Guyana later this month ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda.
A Buckingham palace spokesperson said: “You will all be aware that this year’s CHOGM also comes at an important time in the history of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the countries of the Caribbean in particular,” a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said today. “There are important discussions taking place in various fora about colonial legacy and the intergenerational impact of the transatlantic trade in enslaved persons. While these are primarily matters for Governments to address, His Majesty’s previous statements on them have been unequivocal, describing them as an ‘atrocity’ which ‘forever stains our history’.”
The spokesperson added, “The visit programme will therefore not shy away from ‘the darkest days of our past’, as His Majesty has described them, but – in keeping with the wishes of our host nations – it will principally be oriented to the vibrant present and promising future of each country, with visit programmes developed in close consultation with their governments to reflect their individual priorities.”
The call for the payment of reparations following the trade in enslaved people is an ongoing issue in the Caribbean, including many of the countries that were once British colonies and are now members of the Commonwealth. There have also been calls for the U.K. government to pay for past involvement. King Charles will not be able to weigh in on any decision to change policy, but a spokesman pointed out during a briefing on Oct. 2 how the monarch had spoken before of the evils that “forever stain our history.”
It is not known how King Charles will address the issue during the eight-day tour next month, but he is set to make several speeches during his time in Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas and Guyana. Palace sources point out that there are memorials to the victims of the slave trade, hinting that he and Queen Camilla might visit them.
More details of the Caribbean tour were announced by Buckingham Palace on Oct. 2. The visit will see King Charles, 77, and Queen Camilla, 78, visit Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting from Nov. 1 to Nov. 4. Ahead of that, King Charles will make a solo stop in the Bahamas from Oct. 27 to Oct. 29 before visiting Guyana from Oct. 29 to Oct. 30.
The king will first visit the Bahamas and Guyana alone, followed by a trip with Queen Camilla to Antigua and Barbuda, where Charles will give a speech at a CHOGM.
Charles, 77, who is still receiving treatment for cancer, will visit former colonies that are now independent from Britain and are members of the British Commonwealth.
He remains head of state in the archipelago nations of the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, a role that is largely ceremonial.
The UK government reiterated last month its rejection of calls for the payment of slavery reparations after a Jamaican delegation filed a petition addressed to Charles on the issue.