The King is “fully open” to being replaced as head of state in Caribbean nations if that is what their people ultimately decide.
Although His Majesty remains “ready to serve”, senior aides have made clear that he would not stand in the way of any country choosing to end its constitutional ties with the monarchy.
The comments come amid an intensifying debate over the legacy of empire and calls for reparations, following the Prime Minister’s controversial intervention shortly before last week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Antigua.
Andy Burnham’s offer to discuss a formal apology for the historic transatlantic slave trade has prompted renewed demands across the region for Britain to pay billions in compensation, placing the King in a delicate diplomatic position.
It has also brought wider questions about the future of the monarchy into sharper focus. Antigua’s prime minister, Gaston Browne, said he wanted his country to become a republic while the King was visiting as his guest.
Sources close to the sovereign have now stressed that, while Charles remains energetic and committed to serving his subjects, he is also realistic about the monarchy’s future.
At the end of the King’s high-profile tour, a senior royal aide said: “The King and the Royal Family are there to serve the people of these regions for as long as they wish.
“But if they no longer want that, then we are fully open to it.
“The family serves where it is wanted, and if that changes, another arrangement can be found.”
King Charles and Queen Camilla pose for an official tour photograph marking the conclusion of their trip
Charles meets Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne on November 1
Charles speaks with Antigua and Barbuda’s Governor-General Rodney Williams after arriving at VC Bird International Airport on November 4
Charles remains head of state in 14 countries outside the UK, including seven Caribbean realms: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
During the reign of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, 17 of those realms became republics, although each remained a member of the Commonwealth.
Charles visited the Caribbean dozens of times as heir to the throne. His latest tour of the Bahamas, Guyana, and Antigua and Barbuda was his first visit to the region as King.
Aides pointed to Barbados as an example of a country that successfully moved from being a Commonwealth realm to a republic in 2021.
“We agreed on how it would happen, and it was done without rancour,” one source said.
“We have absolutely no difficulty with that. It is simply a matter of what individual countries want to do.
“You will have seen that the King was delighted to attend events marking Barbados’s transition to a republic.”
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Diplomats regarded the monarch’s eight-day tour as a major success in achieving its principal aims: strengthening trade ties and expanding co-operation in areas including the environment.
The visit was nevertheless overshadowed by the escalating dispute over slavery and reparations, fuelled by Mr Burnham’s decision to reverse the position taken by successive British governments, which had previously refused even to consider a formal public apology for the historic transatlantic slave trade.
That move triggered a sharp increase in calls for “reparatory justice” across the region and placed Charles, as head of the Commonwealth, in an especially difficult position.
Charles and Prime Minister Andy Burnham speak during an official dinner at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on November 3
Charles and Camilla wave as they leave Antigua and Barbuda on November 4
King Charles, Queen Camilla, and Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey attend a Commonwealth Heads of Government dinner on Tuesday
Speaking to ITV News just hours after attending church with the King and Queen on Sunday, Gaston Browne said he had great personal respect for Charles but repeated his belief that Antigua should replace him as head of state.
“I am a republican. So, if you asked me about my personal view, I would like to see Antigua and Barbuda become a republic. But I have to recognise and accept that there are constitutional provisions for becoming a republic and that, ultimately, the decision belongs to the people,” he said.
Antigua’s constitution requires more than two-thirds of voters to support replacing the British monarch and changing the constitution.
He added: “Until that question is put to them, I have to accept that King Charles remains.”
Mr Browne also repeated his call for Britain to pay reparations.
“I understand the politics in the UK, where it may be difficult for him to agree to any form of reparations, but that does not remove the need for reparations,” he said of Mr Burnham.
Sources close to the King have maintained that he has a “good relationship” with Mr Burnham despite the controversy.
Charles is said to make a point of finding common ground with each of his prime ministers, a useful approach given that he has had four in five years.
The aide said: “The King very quickly establishes a good working relationship with the sitting prime minister. I see them together every week, and it is genuinely a good relationship.”
On Mr Burnham’s announcement, the aide said: “He is perfectly entitled to do that. He is the head of the elected government.
“If that is what elected politicians want to pursue, it is not for us to stand in their way.”
Asked whether the King might ever apologise for his own family’s links to the slave trade, the aide responded: “The King is the Crown, the Crown is the state, and the state is run by an elected government, so we have to see how this situation develops.”
The aide did confirm, however, that the Royal Collection Trust—which oversees the priceless collection of art, jewellery, and antiques held by the monarch on behalf of the nation—has a “clear restitution policy”. Under that policy, countries can apply to have items returned if concerns arise over the circumstances in which they were acquired.