King Charles leaves Guyana for Antigua after slavery rebellion site visit

King Charles has left Guyana for Antigua at the end of the second leg of a nine-day Caribbean tour that took him from a carnival parade in the Bahamas to the site of a slave rebellion in Georgetown.

He landed in Guyana on Thursday evening and was met by President Mohamed Irfaan Ali, with whom he is said to have a warm relationship dating back years. Buckingham Palace described the Bahamas visit as a sensitive balancing act and a diplomatic success, and said the tour had acknowledged the great injustices of the past in a respectful way.

In Guyana the programme centred on the environment, with ITV reporting that rainforest covers between 85% and 90% of the country, and on an economy transformed by offshore oil. Chris Ship, ITV's royal editor, said Guyana is the fastest-growing economy in the world and, on paper, richer per head of population than the United States or the United Kingdom, though he added that many Guyanese have not yet felt the benefit.

On Friday the King spent time at Independence Park, where public executions followed the 1823 uprising of enslaved Africans on the Demerara plantations. GB News reported that thousands of enslaved people rose in protest, and BBC One that hundreds were killed. ITV reported that the leaders were executed by public hanging and that colonial rulers ordered their heads to be placed on spikes as a warning to others. BBC One said the palace saw the visit as a chance for the King to learn about the history of slavery and resistance in Guyana.

ITV counted about a dozen protesters outside the park calling for an apology and reparations, the closest the King has come on this tour to the campaigners. He cannot apologise without the backing of the UK government, whose policy is not to. Chris Ship said the King would be content to leave the issue to the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, who attends the Commonwealth heads of government summit in Antigua next week, where the King is due to speak.

GB News reported that the King also laid a wreath at Commonwealth war graves honouring 24 British Guyanese casualties of the two world wars and met veterans of the pre-independence British Guiana defence forces, including James Samuel, 100, who signed up in 1943 at the age of 19.

In the Bahamas, BBC News spoke to Lakeisha Anderson-Rolle, executive director of the Bahamas National Trust, about the King's visit to Bonefish Pond National Park, where he walked a boardwalk through the mangroves and planted a silver buttonwood. She said mangroves protect coastlines during major storms and store carbon, and that the Bahamas is highly vulnerable to extreme weather.

BBC One reported that the King had not visited Guyana for 26 years, while ITV noted that the late Queen's last visit was in the 1990s. The visit ended with a musical collaboration, as pipers from the National Piping Centre in Scotland played with Guyanese drummers before a farewell walkabout.

ITV also reported that news of a Police Scotland investigation involving Balmoral broke during the visit. Chris Ship said palace officials would not be surprised by developments involving the King's younger brother while he is abroad.