The Queen joined her husband in the Caribbean as he prepared for one of the most diplomatically challenging stages of his eight-day tour.
Camilla, 79, flew from the UK on Thursday and reunited with the King after his arrival from Guyana on Friday night. She attended a church service on Sunday morning, making it her first public appearance of the week.
The couple had spent a rare day off together at a luxury beach resort on the tropical island on Saturday before attending the Anglican service at St John’s Pentecostal House of Restoration.
They were welcomed by an energetic steel pan band performing a medley of familiar songs, alongside a display of flags representing all 56 Commonwealth nations.
The service formed part of the wider Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2026 programme and focused on themes of unity and partnership.
The King and Queen were greeted at the church by Antigua and Barbuda’s Governor-General, Sir Rodney Williams, and his wife, Lady Sandra Williams.
The Queen wore a turquoise chiffon dress by Anna Valentine, accessorised with turquoise and diamond earrings from her private collection. She also added a multicoloured Antigua beaded bracelet made by a local vendor.
The King complemented his outfit with a pocket square made from traditional Antiguan and Barbudan Independence Day madras.
He also wore a colourful tie given to him by the widow of Barry Humphries, better known as Dame Edna Everage, from her collection. The King and Humphries shared a warm friendship over the years.
The royal couple were then introduced to the Very Reverend Dwane Cassius, Dean and Parish Priest of the Cathedral and Parish of St. John the Divine; Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne and his wife, Maria Browne; Foreign Affairs Minister and CHOGM 2026 Task Force Chair Chet Greene; Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Botchwey; Royal Commonwealth Society Chair Janet Cooper OBE; and cricketing legend and CHOGM Envoy Sir Viv Richards.
Hymns during the service were led by the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Orchestra and its vocal ensemble, the Inspire Youth Choir. The choir won the 2016 Commonwealth Choir Competition and performed at Buckingham Palace in 2018.
The King is visiting Antigua in his capacity as Head of the Commonwealth for the organisation’s biennial CHOGM gathering.
Queen Camilla wore a turquoise chiffon dress by Anna Valentine with turquoise and diamond earrings from her private collection.
Governor-General of Antigua and Barbuda Rodney Williams and his wife, Sandra Williams, welcome King Charles and Queen Camilla before a church service.
Queen Camilla and Sandra Williams, wife of Antigua and Barbuda’s Governor-General Rodney Williams, watch proceedings before a church service marking the 45th anniversary of the country’s Independence Day.
The event was always likely to be contentious, amid growing calls from former British colonies in the region for the UK to issue a formal apology over slavery and provide reparations.
The King’s visit has also been complicated by British Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s announcement that he is open to negotiations over an apology for Britain’s role in the historic transatlantic slave trade.
Before the tour, Buckingham Palace made clear that the royal visit would follow existing government guidance: there would be no apology or reparations from the British government.
The King has therefore been unable to respond directly to campaigners’ calls during the eight-day tour. Instead, he referred in a speech in Nassau to the “shameful aspects” and “great suffering and injustices of the past”, before visiting a site in Georgetown, Guyana, where rebelling slaves were brutally executed by British authorities.
The tour was intended to strengthen trade and diplomatic ties across the Caribbean and has so far been regarded as a major diplomatic success, building on the King’s long-standing relationships with political leaders in the region.
At the age of 77, and still undertaking cancer treatment, he has tirelessly packed in dozens of public engagements in a matter of days and been greeted by enthusiastic crowds.
Now many have been left asking whether Mr Burnham has placed the monarch in an invidious position by suddenly indicating – on the eve of CHOGM – that he was ready for a ‘conversation’ over the issue, supercharging demands by Caribbean campaigners for Britain to pay up billions in compensation.
The king is due to give a keynote speech to leaders and delegates on Tuesday.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘As we have indicated, The King will not shy away from confronting the most shameful aspects of the past during this Visit.
‘You may therefore expect him to address them in his speech with unflinching honesty, sincere sorrow, and respect for the wider discussions that will be taking place between relevant governments on this issue at CHOGM and beyond.
‘He will be speaking at CHOGM in his capacity as Head of the Commonwealth. It would not be appropriate for him to address matters of particular policy relating to the UK Government’s position.’
But Mr Burnham has been widely warned against issuing a formal apology for Britain’s role in the slave trade because it ‘is a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash’.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch urged the Prime Minister not to apologise because she said it would lead to more demands for reparations, which UK politicians of all stripes have opposed.
Chancellor John Healey defended Mr Burnham’s consideration of a formal apology, but said British people today should not be held financially liable for the slave trade in which they played no part.
EXPLORE MORE: Gen Z Protesters Loot Shops and Throw Fireworks During Demonstrations in Germany
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘As we have indicated, The King will not shy away from confronting the most shameful aspects of the past during this Visit’
The King is in Antigua in his role as Head of the Commonwealth for the biannual CHOGM gathering
Members of Pathfinders group and members of The Girl Guides Association of Antigua and Barbuda hold flags on the day Britain’s King Charles and Queen Camilla attend a church service
Buckingham Palace had made clear before the trip that they were approaching the tour based on existing government advice which was that there will be absolutely no apology and no reparations from the British government
In an op ed on Friday in The Guardian newspaper the Prime Minister, who is due to join the King at CHOGM next week, said he was ‘open’ to discussing a slavery apology from Britain.
But, in keeping with previous governments, he rejected calls for financial compensation.
Mrs Badenoch argued an apology would give countries a reason to ask Britain for money.
Asked what she believed would be the problem with the UK saying sorry, the Opposition leader told Sky News: ‘It’s because of what will happen next.
‘What I’m worried about is that this CHOGM summit is yet another opportunity for people to start asking Britain for money because of the slave trade.’
She added: ‘We need to start looking at how we can bring the Commonwealth together – start looking forwards, not backwards.
‘I don’t think we should be giving any money to compensate people for the slave trade, and I don’t think that Andy Burnham needs to be apologising because it is a lever to wedge open the door to ask for cash.’
However Mr Healey said Mr Burnham felt considering an apology was the ‘right thing’.
He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘The Prime Minister has said, look, we are open to a discussion about an apology.
‘He feels that that’s the right thing, particularly ahead of the Commonwealth leaders’ conference.
‘But he doesn’t believe that reparations are the right approach, and considering a formal apology doesn’t mean accepting that British people now should accept the financial liability for any part in things that happened hundreds of years ago, in which they had no role.’
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds was asked whether reparations should logically follow an apology.
She told Sky News’s Sunday Morning: ‘I don’t agree with that.
‘I think the symbolism … of issuing a formal apology is powerful.
‘It is something that people in the region are talking about and have asked for, but as the Government has made clear, that will not involve financial reparations because the British people of today didn’t have a role in the slave trade hundreds of years ago and in fact, there were brave men and women in this country who led the campaign for the abolition of slavery, which is something that should be recognised too.’
Opposition to payments also came from the Liberal Democrats, whose leader Sir Ed Davey told Times Radio: ‘I just think you can’t go back centuries like that and expect the taxpayers of today to pay money.’
He also criticised overseas aid spending cuts by Labour and Tory governments, saying they have ’caused huge distress and additional poverty and misery in many countries that were affected by the slave trade’.
‘I think you should apologise, but I also think you should show that the UK, as it has done over many years now, is there to support people who are suffering economic injustice.’
But Sir Donald McKinnon, a former secretary general of the Commonwealth, told the same programme that the rejection of reparations was ‘a very rigid position, which is probably quite inappropriate,’ as he called for UK action to improve ‘agitated’ relations with the countries through better trading relationships and training and educational opportunities.
The King’s opening address at the CHOGM summit in Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday will receive heightened interest after the Prime Minister’s intervention.
But Charles, who as head of state is above party politics, is not expected to offer an apology or reference the change in Government policy.
Mr Burnham, writing in the Guardian, said: ‘We are offering a structured dialogue with those affected by the transatlantic slave trade.
‘Listening to calls for a formal apology on behalf of the British state will form an important part of this process and I am open to them.’
The Prime Minister expressed ‘my sorrow and regret for the pain and suffering of so many millions’ but, in keeping with the policy of his predecessors, ruled out considering reparations.
‘I do not think that British people today can be held liable for historical wrongs, however heinous, that happened in a different age under different laws and in which they played no personal part,’ Mr Burnham wrote, adding that he would instead seek to launch a drive on debt-servicing to help countries repay over a longer time period with better rates.