King Charles made light of being soaked in a downpour when he hosted a banquet for Commonwealth leaders, joking that he would “provide an umbrella for you all”. The quip came during his final event of a nine-day Caribbean tour.
Footage of Charles raising his arms and calling for an umbrella on Sunday, as torrential rain fell moments after he arrived at a cricket stadium for Antigua and Barbuda independence celebrations, was seen around the world.
Final Event of the Tour
The dinner on Tuesday, held for presidents and prime ministers, was the last event in a nine-day tour of the Caribbean that included a state visit to Guyana, a trip to the Bahamas, and a final leg in Antigua to open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).
In a speech to launch the summit, Charles said the transatlantic slave trade “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, but did not offer an apology.
Praise for the Royal Navy
The King also praised the “leading role” of the Royal Navy in helping to enforce the end of slavery once it had been abolished. The actions of Britain’s warships came after they had spent more than a century protecting vessels carrying enslaved people and defending the Caribbean’s profitable sugar-producing colonies based on slave labour.
Speaking to dinner guests, including Andy Burnham, Charles praised the Commonwealth, saying: “It is one of the few organisations able to unite countries famous for snow, countries famous for deserts, and, most of all – countries whose citizens are utterly convinced they enjoy perfect weather all year round.
“Although perhaps part of my role as Head of the Commonwealth is to provide an umbrella for you all,” he quipped. The joke was received with laughter in the dining hall and a round of applause.
Serious Notes on the Commonwealth
In more serious moments, he touched on the importance of the Commonwealth as Queen Camilla listened with other guests. “Ladies and gentlemen, we meet at a time when many of the institutions on which the world has long relied are under great strain, and when it is all too tempting for nations to retreat behind ever higher walls,” he said. “I cannot help feeling that such a world would be poorer, more fragile and, if I may say so, a good deal lonelier and more dangerous.
“Our Commonwealth, I think, offers another path.”
A bespoke cocktail, called the Commonwealth 56, a twist on the French 75, was served, made from Antilles Stillhouse Pink Sorrel Hibiscus Gin made on the hills above the English harbour in Antigua, and a sugar syrup from Buckingham Palace honey.
Diners at the Blue Waters hotel in the capital St John’s were served an avocado, green beans, quail eggs and cherry tomato salad, Mahi-Mahi fish with seasonal vegetables and an Antiguan black pineapple tarte tatin with hand-painted chocolates to finish.
Charles and Camilla will fly home on the ministerial jet Voyager after being waved off by Antigua’s governor-general, Sir Rodney Williams and his wife, Lady Williams.
