King Charles joins Junkanoo dancers in Nassau during Caribbean tour

King Charles joined dancers at a Junkanoo parade in Nassau on Wednesday, waving Bahamian-coloured maracas and moving to the music on the second day of his nine-day Caribbean tour.

The appearance followed his acknowledgement of the suffering caused by the slave trade when he arrived in the Bahamas on Tuesday. The King said the country’s culture was “born out of darkness” and that it was “only right” to recognise historic injustices.

Charles began Wednesday by laying a wreath at the Flamingo Monument, which commemorates four Royal Bahamas Defence Force marines killed when Cuban aircraft sank their vessel, HMBS Flamingo, in 1980. He later visited a boxing academy and a national park protecting mangroves, before joining the parade in a suit and sunglasses.

The festivities took place alongside calls for reparations. A small group from the Bahamas National Reparations Committee held placards reading “Pay us what you owe us” before police moved them on. Committee chair Noelle Nicholls said the group was demanding an apology and reparations for the harm caused by slavery.

The King has confirmed that Commonwealth leaders will discuss slavery’s legacy at a summit in Antigua next week. His tour continues in Guyana, where engagements are due to focus on the environment and biodiversity, before he travels to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.