SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — King Charles III arrived in the Bahamas on Tuesday as part of a nine-day trip to the Caribbean, where he faces calls for an apology and slavery reparations.
It's his first official visit to the Bahamas as king, with the archipelago's government closing all public schools on the island of New Providence to welcome him.
The Bahamian police and armed forces strode out to greet Charles in lockstep, some wearing pith helmets.
Charles stepped out in a light gray suit and donned sunglasses as he greeted Governor-General Dame Cynthia A. Pratt and Prime Minister Philip Davis.
Charles then traveled to Clifford Park, which he last officially visited as Prince of Wales in 1973 to grant the Bahamas independence after 300 years of British rule.
Members of the Bahamas’ Rastafarian community and others lined a road near Clifford Park in protest, demanding reparations. “Pay us what you owe us!” one woman cried out. “I stand in memory of the horrors and the atrocities committed against Black people.”
Meanwhile, a cheering crowd awaited Charles as he arrived at the park, with dozens of young students waving small Bahamian flags ahead of a cultural event that included children singing and playing music.
“We know that some of what is best in Bahamian culture today, the most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright, was born out of darkness,” Charles said in his first public remarks since arriving in the Bahamas. “It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present.”
Jamaica recently took its case for reparations to Charles, and the case has since been referred to the United Kingdom's highest court of appeal for the Caribbean island. The British government, however, has consistently rejected demands for either an apology or reparations.
While in the Bahamas, Charles also is expected to visit a nature site and meet with the Royal Bahamas Defense Force as well as government officials and civil society leaders.
Some in the Bahamas hope his visit will draw attention to an ongoing environmental struggle on an island that forms part of the Exuma cays.
Eric Carey, former executive director of the Bahamas National Trust, said the Save Exuma Alliance is fighting a development on Sampson Cay that he called “ill-advised” and “out of scale.” He noted that the development calls for a “massive” sea wall and the dredging of sea grass and coral reefs.
“This is not a position of antidevelopment; our country is a tourism-based economy,” Carey said in a phone interview. “Our point is that there are larger islands where larger scale developments could be more effectively and efficiently constructed.”
The case is currently in the hands of the Bahamas Supreme Court, but Carey said he hopes Charles will raise awareness about the issue.
“King Charles has a long history of defending the environment, talking about climate change,” Carey said. “He’s visiting … one of the most vulnerable regions in the world.”
During his speech at Clifford Park, Charles acknowledged the climate challenges that the Bahamas and other nations face.
“We cannot escape the fact that the journey ahead contains some treacherous shoals, in particular in an island nation where 90% of the land sits below two meters,” Charles said. “There is perhaps nowhere better than the Bahamas to understand the reality of climate change.”
Charles is scheduled to spend three days in the Bahamas and then fly to the South American country of Guyana on Oct. 29, where he will spend two days in the former British colony whose president has said he wants an apology.
Charles is then scheduled to fly to Antigua and Barbuda on Oct. 30 for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where Queen Camilla will join him. Talks are expected to focus on climate, trade and development, but some Caribbean leaders have said slavery reparations should dominate conversations.