Gov. Kathy Hochul declined Wednesday to say whether she would support Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s push to “tax the rich” if she wins reelection, instead offering a carefully worded response when pressed on the issue.

The Democrat was questioned about her unlikely alliance with the democratic socialist mayor, who has joined her on the campaign trail during the closing days of the 2026 race. A reporter asked whether anything “hinged” on Mamdani’s support.

“I will say this. A year ago I was out campaigning with the mayor. He has returned the favor and campaigned for me and I’m grateful for that,” Hochul told reporters at her Midtown office during an unrelated news conference.

When asked for a more direct answer, Hochul was pressed on whether Mamdani could expect more from her next year after she helped the mayor secure his first budget this year with state-backed measures, including a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes in New York City.

“There are no quid pro quo for us supporting each other. I want to have a relationship with the mayor of New York,” she said, still stopping short of explicitly ruling out tax increases. “He wants to have a relationship with the governor of New York. And it’s all for the benefit of driving more confidence among New Yorkers in their government, which was not there for a long time.”

“I’m going to continue working in partnership on the areas we agree, and there are many,” she added. “I’m going to continue to find a line, but regardless of what my supporters or his supporters say, we know how to do this.”

Hochul’s comments marked a significant shift from the firm opposition she expressed just months ago, when the governor repeatedly rejected Mamdani’s campaign to raise taxes on wealthy New Yorkers.

“We should not be raising taxes on high-net-worth individuals,” Hochul told FOX 5 as recently as July.

“We should not be raising taxes on the companies that are creating the jobs and generating the revenue that helps us pay for the services that people in New York City come to rely on,” she added.

Her exchange Wednesday suggested a different political strategy just days before the Nov. 3 midterm election. Hochul is seeking to capitalize on Mamdani’s strong support among young New York City voters as she works to remain in office in Albany.

Hochul holds a substantial voter-registration advantage over Republican opponent Blakeman, who trails by roughly 14 points in one poll, 54% to 40%. Still, the governor has been counting on heavily Democratic New York City to offset Republican strength Upstate and help improve her margins after facing criticism in past years for weighing down other Democrats on the ballot.

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The governor, who is seeking her second full four-year term, has been trying to navigate a difficult political balance: energizing the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, including Mamdani’s socialist supporters, while maintaining credibility with more moderate voters in the state’s suburbs.

Hochul has been booed repeatedly by Mamdani supporters at joint appearances and recently acknowledged that many members of his base may not welcome the new alliance.

“His supporters probably aren’t thrilled when they see us standing together,” Hochul told Politico Magazine this week. She also described Mamdani as “very pragmatic when it comes to getting things done.”

Mamdani began campaigning publicly with Hochul only last week. He joined her for a brief walk through Brooklyn on Friday and appeared with her again at a luncheon Sunday.

He later starred in a television advertisement attacking Blakeman and praised Hochul during a Brooklyn news conference Wednesday.

“It’s been a real pleasure to be going alongside Governor Hochul and canvassing for her reelection,” Mamdani said, adding that his free-child-care program “would not have been possible” without her support.

Yet Mamdani’s supporters are not the only ones in his political orbit who have opposed Hochul. Allies within the Democratic Socialists of America establishment have criticized the governor since the beginning of the partnership.

In May, the group claimed that “people will die” because Hochul refused to endorse Mamdani’s tax proposal, accusing her of “cowering to the donor class” while saying “democratic socialists fight for the working class.”

“We’re up against an undemocratic bully in Albany & the oligarchs that back her. But our wins show that movement pressure CAN deliver for our communities,” the left-wing party said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Blakeman hammered Hochul in TV spots for what he characterized as flip-flopping policies.

“Hochul raised taxes before, she’ll raise them again,” a newly unveiled ad said. “Only your vote for Bruce Blakeman will stop them.”

A former Bank of America executive claims he was pushed out of his job after facing age and race discrimination while trying to care for his seriously ill mother, according to a federal lawsuit.

Robert Zullo, 55, alleges that his supervisor, AJ Venit, told him during an August 2025 confrontation that he would “never work in the banking industry again.” Bank of America has denied the accusations and said it intends to vigorously defend itself against what it describes as unfounded claims.

Zullo moved from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Albany, New York, to look after his mother. He said Karen Cheney, his former manager, approved an arrangement that allowed him to work periodically from the Albany office while serving as her caregiver, according to the federal complaint.

The lawsuit says Zullo told Cheney about his mother’s medical condition in May 2024. Cheney allegedly submitted a request allowing him to travel between locations, but the company’s human resources department later rejected it.

Zullo claims Cheney then gave him verbal approval in July 2024 for an alternative setup: he could badge into the Albany office while living outside North Carolina and continue performing his duties.

According to the complaint, Zullo followed that arrangement for roughly a year and was listed as “compliant” on his manager’s dashboard. At the time, he was a senior vice president in Bank of America’s compliance and operational risk division.

“During that period, Zullo received no reprimand, counseling, or warning regarding his attendance or location, and he received expanded responsibilities and a performance award,” the lawsuit, filed last week, states.

Zullo also alleges that a younger African American employee who reported to Venit was allowed to relocate permanently to New Jersey to care for a relative, the complaint says.

Although Zullo says both employees received comparable approval from their managers, he was placed on a performance improvement plan while his colleague was later promoted to senior vice president, according to the lawsuit filed in the Western District of North Carolina.

Zullo further claims that advancing the younger employee was viewed as more beneficial because it would help the company meet “diversity target percentages,” the complaint says.

In August 2025, Cheney allegedly contacted Employee Relations to seek information that could support issuing Zullo a “verbal warning,” according to the lawsuit.

Several days later, Zullo says he told Cheney he planned to request temporary leave to care for his mother, whose medical treatments were scheduled to begin in September 2025.

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He subsequently filed the request and asked to work from the Albany office so he could live with his mother, the complaint alleges. The following day, he says, he received a letter directing him to work three full days each week from the Charlotte office.

Zullo was later summoned to a meeting with both managers. During the meeting, Venit allegedly accused him of using the Albany office without authorization and rejected his caregiving request without offering another option, according to the lawsuit.

Venit allegedly told Zullo, “You’ll be gone in 30 days, we just have to follow the paperwork process.” The lawsuit also claims Venit warned him that he would never work in the banking industry again.

Zullo then filed an ethics and compliance complaint, alleging that he had been treated differently from colleagues and discriminated against because of his age and race.

The lawsuit states that he was placed on a performance improvement plan just days later. The plan cited “low performance and lack of productivity” as its justification.

It also warned that he could be terminated at any time. 

The PIP also blocked his ability to apply for FMLA and other leaves, meaning he was prevented from using it just weeks before his mother’s treatment, Zullo claimed.

On August 20, 2025, Zullo resigned from his position.

‘A reasonable person in Zullo’s position would have felt compelled to resign. Zullo resigned approximately four months before he would have qualified for substantial retirement vesting and equity benefits,’ the lawsuit said.

Bank of America told the Daily Mail it denied the allegations. Daily Mail contacted Venit and Cheney for comment. Neither are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

‘We provide flexibility and leave accommodations for all employees, however, Mr Zullo repeatedly failed to comply with company policy, and we strongly disagree with this account,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘We look forward to presenting the facts through the appropriate legal channels.’  

The Daily Mail has reached out to Zullo for comment.  

Britain’s decision to adopt a broad package of measures aimed at tackling antisemitism in schools has highlighted differences with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s recently released strategy, prompting questions about why the U.K. approach is more detailed than the plan proposed in America’s most Jewish city.

The U.K. government accepted all 27 recommendations from an independent review of antisemitism in schools and colleges across England. The proposals include encouraging schools to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance working definition of antisemitism, providing specialized training for teachers, improving reporting systems and introducing independent oversight.

Mamdani’s 33-page strategy, which covers issues beyond education, does not adopt a single definition of antisemitism. It also does not explicitly examine the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism or set numerical targets to measure the success of its initiatives.

British Jewish author and Holocaust educator Dov Forman, who recently graduated from university, said Mamdani could draw lessons from Britain’s more targeted plan for confronting antisemitism in schools.  

The British review came after a BBC report from Yavneh College, a Jewish secondary school near London, where students spoke about the impact antisemitism has had on their everyday lives. Their testimony underscored the urgency behind the government’s recommendations.

Education offers one of the clearest comparisons between the two strategies. Mamdani’s plan proposes expanding Holocaust education, including opportunities for students to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage, while addressing how public schools respond to antisemitic discrimination. The U.K. recommendations cover many of the same areas but place greater focus on helping educators identify antisemitism, ensuring schools respond properly to incidents and strengthening protections for Jewish students.

The review, led by former senior education official Sir David Bell, found that nearly three in five Jewish people ages 16 to 19 had experienced or witnessed antisemitism. It said antisemitism is a distinct form of racism that requires a tailored response, while calling for clearer guidance separating legitimate political debate from harassment, intimidation and antisemitic rhetoric.

Forman, the British Jewish author and Holocaust educator, described the recommendations as “the bare minimum,” while acknowledging that the government is making a direct attempt to address the problem.

“The least [Mamdani] could do is look at what has happened in the U.K. and adopt similar measures, such as adopting the IHRA definition, which is the agreed definition across the world and where there is a consensus of what antisemitism actually is,” Forman told News Media.

“The basic way to solve antisemitism is to actually agree on what it is and to understand that targeting a Jew deliberately because of what is going on in Israel, for example, is antisemitic, as the IHRA definition says,” he added.

Forman warned that many of the British recommendations remain voluntary and that their impact will depend on whether schools and other institutions put them into practice.

“I do think some of them will be enforced and listened to. I do worry, though, that the government says things and does not actually take it seriously enough.”

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said the government would create an implementation group. Bell has also been commissioned to carry out an independent assessment of the recommendations’ progress after one year.

Ambassador Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, the U.S. special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, welcomed the U.K. announcement but stressed that accepting the recommendations is only the first step.

“I welcome the U.K.’s announcement that it has accepted all 27 recommendations,” Kaploun wrote on X. “Now, the challenge lies in implementation and enforcement.”

Forman also argued that British officials should examine whether their language about Israel conflicts with their stated commitment to protecting Jewish communities.

“It is very rich of the government to say that schools should adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism and that Jews should not be demonized for what is going on in the Middle East, and then for them to get up in the dispatch box in the House of Commons every week and blame Israel,” he said.

“Stop talking and start acting,” Forman said, urging the government to confront Islamist extremism and the Muslim Brotherhood while identifying more directly where antisemitism is coming from.

The U.K. has faced criticism for being slow in combating antisemitism. Jewish residents have faced physical attacks, threats and harassment, making the specificity of its new plan and its contrast with New York City’s approach particularly notable.

Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz, senior rabbi of Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, called Mamdani’s strategy a “paper tiger,” arguing that its announced $36 million price tag obscures how little would go directly toward physical security.

“It’s a million dollars in security in a city with a million Jews. It’s a dollar a Jew,” Steinmetz told News Media.

The strategy includes $1 million to support physical security for vulnerable nonprofit organizations, including synagogues and other houses of worship, and $6.4 million for grants through the city’s Partners Against the Hate initiative.

Steinmetz claimed that much of the money would support cultural centers and broadly defined community initiatives rather than immediate security needs.

UJA-Federation of New York, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, the American Jewish Committee’s New York office and the New York Board of Rabbis issued a joint statement warning that Mamdani’s plan fails to address a central source of contemporary antisemitism.

The organizations said rhetoric demonizing or delegitimizing Israel contributes to Jewish New Yorkers being treated as suspect, excluded or unsafe, and argued that any serious strategy must acknowledge that connection.

“How can you have a strategy to keep New York Jews safe when you can’t even name what the danger is?” Steinmetz asked.

One of Mamdani’s early actions as mayor was to revoke an executive order issued by former Mayor Eric Adams adopting the IHRA definition for city agencies. The definition provides examples of when criticism of Israel may cross into antisemitism while making clear that criticism comparable to that directed at any other country is not inherently antisemitic.

News Media asked Mamdani’s office why the city’s strategy omits the IHRA definition and measurable benchmarks, and whether the administration would consider safeguards similar to those adopted by Britain. The mayor’s office did not respond by the time of publication.

Britain’s measures have also only recently been accepted, and their impact remains untested.

Britain has defined the problem, outlined specific recommendations and established a process for reviewing its progress. New York City’s Jewish leaders are still asking whether City Hall has accurately identified the threat it claims it intends to confront.

President Trump on Wednesday urged Alaska Democratic Senate candidate Mary Peltola to withdraw from the race and face criminal prosecution after reports said her allies helped recruit a candidate who shares the name of her Republican opponent.

“Mary Peltola should resign from the race. I think she should be prosecuted criminally for what she did,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Ohio, where he planned to campaign for Republicans.

Trump also said any Peltola allies involved in recruiting Daniel J. Sullivan to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan should face criminal charges.

It remains unclear which law could support such a prosecution. Daniel Sullivan satisfied the legal requirements to run, and Alaska’s election system allows four candidates to advance from the primary to the general election. Both Sullivans and Peltola are on next week’s ballot.

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The New York Times reported that senior Peltola aides were involved in the recruitment effort. Peltola had initially denied knowing about it, but a report published Wednesday said she was “definitely aware” of the scheme.

“They said they didn’t do it, and they did do it, and they got caught. And in fact, it was a plot by the Democrat Party, and frankly, they should be, I think they should be prosecuted. To me, that’s voter fraud at the highest level,” Trump said.

Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is listed on the ballot as the incumbent and is identified as a registered Republican. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. does not have either designation.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

King Charles paid tribute to fallen service personnel as he inspected the Royal Bahamas Defence Force during a solemn opening to the second day of his Caribbean tour.

Wearing his medals, including the Order of Merit neck order, and sunglasses beneath the bright Coral Harbour sun on New Providence, Charles spent an hour meeting hundreds of Royal Bahamas Defence Force personnel, including serving men and women and veterans.

The King laid a wreath at the Flamingo Monument, which honours the four Bahamian Marines killed when HMBS Flamingo sank on 10 May 1980.

A handwritten card signed “Charles R” was attached to the wreath and carried the message: “In everlasting remembrance.”

The first of six engagements scheduled for the day began with the King being welcomed by Commander Defence Force Commodore Floyd Moxey and other dignitaries. Lines of troops in their distinctive white uniforms stood waiting in the intense heat.

After taking his place on a dais, Charles received a Royal Salute from the Guard of Honour and Colour Party, made up of 106 officers and Marines.

The band performed a Royal Fanfare and The Bahamas’ National Anthem before playing a series of other pieces, including “I Vow to Thee My Country” and “Abide With Me”.

Charles also viewed a plaque marking his visit, alongside Coronation Medals that will be presented to Royal Bahamas Defence Force personnel at a later date.

At the Flamingo Monument, Charles heard the history of HMBS Flamingo, which sank after being attacked by Cuban MiG fighter aircraft. Marines Fenrick Sturrup, Austin Smith, David Tucker and Edward Williams were killed in the incident.

The King met relatives of each of the four Marines, as well as surviving crew member Force Chief Petty Officer Gregory Curry.

He later boarded HMBS Lawrence Major, a 56-metre roll-on/roll-off vessel primarily used to respond to natural disasters.

The vessel was moored and stationary during the King’s visit. On board, he met the ship’s commanding officer, Commander Alexis Brown.

On board, he spoke to dozens of service and retired service men and women, asking them about their roles and length of service.

Among them were the Ship’s Company, Disaster Risk Management Unit, retired members of the Defence Force, RBDF Rangers Youth Programme, Bahamas National Youth Guards, RBDF veterans, Officers, Warrant Officers, Senior Rates and Marines.

When he stopped to meet the Youth Guards, he asked about their backgrounds and told proud teenagers that they must be ‘very highly trained’.    

Later in the day, the King spent time viewing conservation projects at Bonefish Pond National Park, highlighting the urgent need for environmental restoration and climate-resilience projects in areas such as the Bahamas which are particularly vulnerable to climate change.

He then undertook the first of two tree plantings of the day, before heading off to The Bahamas Boxing Academy which is helping offer opportunities for local youngsters through sport.

The King laughed as he was presented with a T-shirt featuring a muscular rendition of himself wearing boxing shorts, gloves and a crown.

Charles, joined by Prime Minister Philip Davis and minister for sports, Mario Bowleg, visited the Bahamas Boxing Academy in the Yellow Elder district of New Providence.

It opened in April 2026 on the Queen Elizabeth sporting complex to provide young Bahamians with opportunities through sport, mentoring and education. 

Davis has championed the academy and described boxing as being deeply rooted in the ‘Bahamian D.N.A.’.

Charles watched a youth boxing session in the training area and met young athletes and their trainers by the boxing bags, including Sanai Miller, 12 and his coach, Jermaine Gibson, members of the All Out Boxing Club who train at the academy.

Both wore the black t-shirts emblazoned with an image of the monarch, in a ‘gloves up’ stance, wearing purple boxing shorts, a boxing vest and a crown. 

‘Ha!’ said Charles, pointing and laughing at the shirts. ‘We made one for you, I had it made last night,’ Jermaine told him. 

Accepting the gift, Charles, still laughing, replied: ‘How generous.’ Afterwards, Gibson said: ‘We gave him one of his own, he said it was really good.’

Accompanied by Kieshna Major, the head coach, Charles also watched a sparring session with younger members of the academy, including Jayda Burrows, 16, who told him how she does two hours of training after school most days. 

‘And are you getting better and better? It looks like it,’ he told her.

Charles was then shown mounted photographs on the walls of Bahamian boxing champions through the ages, before heading to the outdoor boxing ring to see another sparring session.

He also met more young boxers, coaches, members of local boxing clubs and Bahamas boxing champions, Steve Larrimore, who competed at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games and won Commonwealth and Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medals in 1982, and Jermaine ‘Chu Chu’ Mackey, whose accolades include the Bahamian supermiddlewight title, WBA and WBC Caribbean champion and a Commonwealth title.

Speaking to a group of young children who also train at the academy, he said: ‘Is it a good excuse to get you out of school?’ 

After spending time shaking hands with trustees of the academy and Bahamain sports figures, Charles unveiled a plaque marking his visit.

Before leaving, he joined the Minister for social services, Barbara Cartwright, for a private meeting with wards of the state from a local children’s home, who are supported by the academy and enrolled on its youth boxing programmes.

Elsewhere, Charles was welcomed by the Prime Minister at the House of Assembly on Parliament Square – his second major meet and greet of the tour – and spoke to Bahamian students involved with his King’s Foundation building programmes before enjoying a celebratory Junkanoo street parade.

A joyful King Charles danced and played a pair of Bahamian hand bells as he threw himself – quite literally – into the carnival spirit. 

The parade was a boisterous mass of energetic dancers wearing lavish and brightly-coloured costumes who took over Nassau’s main thoroughfare.

While His Majesty had been expected to just view the spectacle as guest of honour alongside the country’s Prime Minister, Philip Davis, such was the infectious nature of the performance that Charles couldn’t resist joining in.

First he started tapping his feet then, handed the musical instruments, began moving to the beat before suddenly – with what looked like a cheeky backwards glance towards his police protection officers – heading off, laughing, into the throng.

His joy was infectious and certainly belied the fact that at 77 years old, the king is still persuing a punishing work schedule and undergoing continuing cancer treatment.

Junkaroo has historical roots among what were enslaved people and is now a source of great cultural pride and competition in the Bahamas, so it was natural that the country’s head of state would be afforded the honour of his own parade.

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David Brown of Brown’s Restaurant offered the King local delicacy crab and rice.

He said: ‘He said he hoped I had enough to go around.’

The King also stopped off to talk to Marv Cunningham, owner of Mr Mix Bahamas, about his gin-based cocktails.

Chuckling Charles told him ‘save one of those for me later, I could do with one.’

Mr Cunningham showed him the cocktail made from coconut water, condensed milk, London Dry Gin and a dash of nutmeg, telling the king it was the ‘perfect drink for the heat, but you have to have it shaken, not stirred – just like James Bond!’

He also stopped off for an impromptu walkabout, shanking hands with locals who came out to greet him in Parliament Square.

Just four reparations protestors had gathered along the parade route, although they were later asked to leave by local police.

Members of the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, they carried hand-made signs reading ‘Pay us what you owe us’, ‘Run us our money’ and ‘BRIT: Belongers, Receivers, Investors, Traders of Slavery.’

Noelle Nicholls, chair of the committee, said: ‘At the National Reparations Committee we want to make sure that both the Bahamian government and King Charles, as the head of state of the Bahamas, understands that we have not forgotten that he represents a crown that was responsible for one of the gravest crimes against humanity.

‘And so we’re here to say that you may be on the Bahamian territory as our head of state, but you are still a symbol of that atrocity that was perpetuated against our ancestors.

‘We are demanding an apology for those crimes, and reparations for the harm that was done. 

‘So we think it’s important to be present, so that amidst the pomp and pageantry of the celebrations, which are for some people a celebration, are for us also a sombre occasion. 

‘Because this is the King returning in a way that has still not atoned for the sins of the past.’

When asked about the palace view that Charles cannot apologise for the UK’s historic role in the transatlantic slave trade because it is a matter for government, Dr Niambi Hall Campbell-Dean, a campaigner, said: ‘He is a part of our government too, he’s the head of it. The King of the Netherlands has apologised.

‘And so we think that the King has the power and the authority to make a statement as our head of state or, you know, in his in his position as the head of the legacy of this family.’

During his walkabout, Izzy Westwood, 20, gave the King a card.

She said: ‘I have a card and said I was thrilled and said I was thrilled to meet him and he said he was glad to meet me too.’

Charles arrived at the House of Assembly on Parliament Square and was greeted warmly by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas Philip Davis, Chief Justice Ian Winder, and Leader of the Opposition Michael Pintard.

In Parliament Square, he met Bahamian students involved with The King’s Foundation Building Craft Programme for The Bahamas.

Developed by the Lyford Cay Foundations, a Bahamian education charity, it focuses on preserving and developing traditional skills such as carpentry, stonemasonry, blacksmithing, shingle roofing and lime plastering.

He had a joke with Ivan Fox, 27, who said afterwards: ‘He asked about my leg injury because he remembered me from Dumfries House and I didn’t have it. I told him it was a motorbike accident.’

Ivan was at Dumfries House in Scotland, the headquarters of The King’s Foundation, for five months last year.

He said: ‘I’m surprised he remembered me.’

Meanwhile Andrew Burrows, owner of Mr Bahama Sponge, showed the King products from his sustainable sponge business.

The company cuts sections off from the seabed nearby to produce back scratchers and exfoliating scrubbers, while leaving enough for the next batch to grow. King Charles said: ‘What a wonderful idea. Very good’.

Charles stopped off for an impromptu walkabout, shanking hands with locals who came out to greet him in Parliament Square and chatted to Arlene Nash-Ferguson and Silbert Ferguson, founders of Educulture museum dedicated to the Junkanoo, about the significance of the colourful street parade.

The King also stopped to speak to Sapphira Edwards, seven, who squeezed her way to the front of the barriers. 

Sapphira said: ‘I said hello to the King and he said thank you for coming and he hoped we weren’t standing in the hot weather for too long’.

Tonight the King attended a garden reception at Government House where he met Bahamians who have made significant contributions to the nation. 

King Charles is currently on a nine-day visit to the Caribbean at the request of the British government taking in the Bahamas, Guyana and finally Antigua and Barbuda, where he will be joined by Prime Minister Andy Burnham for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

The trip is, however, being dogged by calls from local campaigners for a formal apology from the British government over the country’s role in the historic transatlantic slave trade and reparations.

The King, who acts on the advice of his ministers, addressed the thorny issue within hours of landing on Tuesday night saying: ‘It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering of the past, in these islands and beyond.’

Although he stopped short of offering an apology or financial compensation in line with government policy, aides say His Majesty will ‘not shy away’ from addressing the growing clamour that threatens to overshadow his visit to the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda this week.

A spokesman for the King made clear he would face ‘the most shameful aspects of our past’.

Whether it will be enough remains to be seen, with the Bahamas National Reparations Committee having already warned him: ‘Don’t come empty-handed.’

Buckingham Palace insists that His Majesty is ‘alive’ to the local strength of feeling, particularly given his role both as Head of the Commonwealth and as monarch in two of the countries he is visiting, the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, where calls for action by the UK have been growing. ‘His Majesty will as usual not seek to ignore the past,’ an aide said.

As a result, he will tackle the ‘backdrop of wider discussions on colonial legacy’ head-on in a number of his speeches, as well as visiting sites with historic links to slavery.

But he will continue to be mindful of the British government’s firm line on the matter which, while acknowledging the ‘abhorrence’ of the historic transatlantic slave trade and its legacy that endures today, firmly rejects demands for compensation as it was not illegal at the time.

Any official apology from the King could be seen as opening the floodgates to billions in claims against the UK.