King Charles ends Caribbean tour with warning against isolation

King Charles has ended a nine-day tour of the Caribbean with a call for Commonwealth cooperation, after a visit dominated by Britain's role in the transatlantic slave trade.

BBC One reported that, at a final reception, the King said many international institutions were under strain and nations were tempted to retreat behind ever higher walls. He said such a world would be poorer, more fragile and more dangerous. The Commonwealth, a family of 56 nations, offered another path, he said.

Earlier, opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua, the King said the transatlantic trade in enslaved people still cast a shadow over the Caribbean and other member states. He called it a shameful chapter of history that filled his heart with horror and his soul with the most profound personal sorrow. He did not issue a formal apology.

Buckingham Palace had said before the speech that the King would address slavery with unflinching honesty and sincere sorrow, but that any apology was a matter for the government. Palace officials described the King as a constitutional monarch who transcended politics.

The visit was accompanied by small but vocal protests in the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua from campaigners demanding an apology and reparations. At the opening of the summit, Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne called for structured dialogue on the enduring consequences of slavery and colonialism.

UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who joined the King in Antigua, has said he is open to a formal apology for Britain's role in the slave trade. Writing in The Guardian, he described the trade as a brutal and barbaric violation of people and offered a structured dialogue with affected countries. He ruled out financial reparations, saying British people today could not be held liable for historical wrongs committed in a different age.

His position drew a cautious welcome from reparations campaigners and criticism from the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch. She said Britain should not entertain reparations and that the time for apologising was over. ITV reported that Gaston Browne called her remarks misguided. Bell Ribeiro-Addy, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for African Reparations, welcomed Burnham's shift but said it fell short of a formal state apology.

The government also sought to move the summit towards practical measures. Sky News reported that Burnham would announce £40 million over three years for green energy projects, alongside plans for a debt reset and two economic task forces. ITV reported that government sources insisted any support would not be new money and could not be called reparations.

Channel 4 reported that Ben Judah, a former adviser to David Lammy, argued the Commonwealth was no longer serving Britain's interests and had been taken over by the reparations row. He said the UK could never pay financial reparations and called for a different investment-focused format.

The tour also included engagements on climate change, with the King visiting mangrove and conservation projects in Guyana and attending events on Antigua's coastline. He and Queen Camilla were caught in torrential rain at Antigua's Independence Day parade, an unscripted moment that drew wide coverage.

BBC One's Daniela Relph reported that the King, who is almost 78 and still receiving cancer treatment, carried out just under 40 engagements across the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda. She said Buckingham Palace would now watch how Burnham handles the apology question. If the government decides to say sorry, the King will follow its guidance.