King Charles III’s Caribbean tour runs from Tuesday 27 October to Wednesday 4 November 2026, Buckingham Palace has confirmed. The tour takes the King to The Bahamas and to Guyana, and then to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2026, where Queen Camilla joins him.
That much is confirmed by the Palace. This explainer keeps confirmed detail separate from reported detail throughout, because the Palace published its programme by country and by theme, without a dated, day-by-day itinerary. Where a date or an engagement below is described as reported, it comes from news reporting rather than from the Palace programme itself, and it should be treated accordingly. Nothing in this article invents a date, a meeting, or a speech that the Palace has not announced.
The tour matters for three different reasons. The Bahamas is a Commonwealth realm where Charles is Head of State. Guyana is a republic, visited on a state visit at the invitation of its president. Antigua and Barbuda hosts CHOGM, at which Charles attends as Head of the Commonwealth. The history of Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, and present-day calls for reparations, form the backdrop to all three.
King Charles Caribbean tour 2026: the confirmed dates and order
Buckingham Palace announced the tour on 25 August 2026 and published the detailed programme on 2 October 2026. Both Palace statements give the same overall dates: Tuesday 27 October to Wednesday 4 November 2026. The Palace describes the tour as an Autumn Tour that will “celebrate communities, cultures and nature within the Commonwealth family”, with themes running through all three countries including environmental sustainability, biodiversity, community resilience, youth engagement and the Commonwealth.
The order of the tour is confirmed: The Bahamas first, then Guyana, then Antigua and Barbuda. The tour concludes, in the Palace’s words, on Wednesday 4 November with the King and Queen’s departure from Antigua and Barbuda.
What the Palace programme does not give is a calendar showing which engagements fall on which dates within each leg. Readers should therefore be cautious about any day-by-day timetable circulating online that assigns a specific engagement to a specific date. The table below follows the Palace’s own structure: legs in order, with the engagements the Palace lists for each, and no invented dates.
| Leg (in confirmed order) | Type of visit | Who attends, as stated by the Palace | Confirmed in the Palace programme |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Bahamas | Royal Visit; the King is Head of State | The King alone; the Queen is not listed for this leg | Youth Rally in Nassau; Royal Bahamas Defence Force at Coral Harbour Base; environmental conservation and sustainability engagements; sports engagement; Parliament Square; audiences; Garden Reception |
| Guyana | State Visit, at the invitation of the President of Guyana and at the request of the UK Government; marking 60 years of UK–Guyana bilateral relations | The King alone; the Queen is not listed for this leg | Georgetown; Commonwealth War Graves; garden visit; biodiversity and conservation, including the Global Biodiversity Alliance Conference; National Toshaos Council; Business Reception; Georgetown Seawall |
| Antigua and Barbuda, including CHOGM 2026 | Royal Visit ahead of CHOGM, then attendance at CHOGM | The King and Queen together | Church Service; Independence Day Parade at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium; Government House; garden visit; environmental conservation; Sticky Wicket Business Forum; the Queen’s separate engagements at the American University and a local school; CHOGM Opening Ceremony; CHOGM Dinner; Reception for New Heads of Government |
The statement that Queen Camilla joins the King in Antigua and Barbuda, and does not travel with him to The Bahamas and Guyana, follows from the Palace programme itself. The Bahamas and Guyana sections describe only His Majesty’s programme, while the Antigua and Barbuda section is written throughout in terms of “Their Majesties”, and the CHOGM section describes the King “accompanied by The Queen”. No reason for the split itinerary has been given by the Palace, and this article does not speculate about one.
The Bahamas: a first visit as King
The Bahamas leg begins in Nassau, where the King attends a Youth Rally celebrating the contribution of young people to national life, according to the Palace programme. He also spends time with members of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force at Coral Harbour Base, and attends engagements highlighting environmental conservation and sustainability. The programme also includes a sports engagement, a visit to Parliament Square to meet representatives from across Bahamian society, audiences, and a Garden Reception bringing together community leaders and guests from across the country.
Reporting around the announcement described this as the King’s first visit to The Bahamas since ascending the throne in 2022. His previous official visit, as Prince of Wales, was in 1973, according to Press Association reporting. The Palace programme itself does not state the “first visit as King” claim in those words, so it is recorded here as reported.
Guyana: a state visit to a republic, marking 60 years
Guyana presents a different constitutional relationship. Guyana became independent from Britain in 1966 and a republic in 1970, so the King is not its Head of State. His visit there is therefore a State Visit, undertaken, in the Palace’s words, “at the invitation of the President of Guyana and at the request of the UK Government”, and marking 60 years of bilateral relations between the UK and Guyana.
The Palace programme places the King in Georgetown, where he visits the Commonwealth War Graves, attends a garden visit and engagements connected to biodiversity and conservation, including the Global Biodiversity Alliance Conference, and meets representatives of communities and organisations working to protect the natural environment.
Two further engagements carry particular weight. The King attends an engagement with the National Toshaos Council, recognising the contribution of Indigenous communities, joins a Business Reception celebrating innovation, enterprise and economic partnership, and visits Georgetown’s Seawall.
Antigua and Barbuda and CHOGM 2026
The final leg takes the King and Queen to Antigua and Barbuda, ahead of and during CHOGM 2026. The Palace programme lists a Church Service and the country’s Independence Day Parade at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, where the King and Queen join celebrations marking the national occasion. They also visit Government House and take part in a garden visit. The King’s programme includes engagements focused on the natural environment, heritage and sustainable development, including a visit highlighting environmental conservation and a meeting with business leaders at the Sticky Wicket Business Forum. The Queen undertakes separate engagements reflecting her long-standing interests, including a visit to the American University and an engagement with a local school.
Antigua and Barbuda is also a realm where Charles is Head of State, as well as the host nation for CHOGM. The Palace does not give a date for the Independence Day Parade in its programme, and this article does not assign one. Readers who see a specific date attached to the parade should check it against the host government’s announcements rather than treating it as Palace-confirmed.
CHOGM itself is confirmed by the Commonwealth Secretariat as taking place from 1 to 4 November 2026 in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, under the theme “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”. It is the 28th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, bringing together leaders and representatives from the Commonwealth’s 56 member countries. The Secretariat describes the summit’s focus as shared priorities including climate resilience, trade, innovation, equality and sustainable development, alongside forums for women, young people, business and civil society.
As Head of the Commonwealth, the King, accompanied by the Queen, attends the CHOGM Opening Ceremony and the CHOGM Dinner, hosts a Reception for New Heads of Government, and attends engagements connected to the wider CHOGM programme. The Palace programme confirms attendance at the Opening Ceremony but does not state the ceremony’s date. News reporting around the summit has placed the King’s address to the opening ceremony on 3 November. That date is reported, not Palace-confirmed in the material verified for this article, and is labelled as such here. It should not be quoted as an official date without checking the Secretariat’s or the Palace’s announcements on the day.
Slavery, reparations and what the Palace has said
No honest account of this tour can omit the question of Britain’s role in the transatlantic slave trade and the calls, led in the Caribbean by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), for reparations. Reuters reported on 27 October 2026, as the tour began, that the visit comes against the backdrop of increasingly vocal demands from the region that Britain pay reparations for its role in the slave trade, and that CARICOM had said it would push for reparations to be on the CHOGM agenda.
What the Palace has said is specific, and it is worth quoting in substance rather than paraphrasing loosely. According to Reuters’ report of a Palace briefing, Buckingham Palace said the King would not shy away from Britain’s involvement in the transatlantic slave trade during his tour, but would not formally apologise for it, in keeping with British government policy, which also excludes making any financial reparations. A Palace spokesperson added, in the words reported by Reuters, that it was important to note the work the King himself had done over many years “both to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and to find creative ways to right inequalities that endure”.
That position has a history. At CHOGM in 2022, Charles expressed deep personal sorrow over slavery, Reuters reported. In Barbados in 2021, the then Prince of Wales described slavery as an “appalling atrocity”, according to BBC reporting. Neither expression was a formal apology, and the distinction between personal sorrow, acknowledgement, and a formal apology matters to the debate. This article does not predict what the King will say during the 2026 tour.
What to watch, and what not to assume
Watch the King’s own words at each leg, any joint statement or communiqué from the Guyana visit or from CHOGM, and the reception in each country. Do not treat a reported date for a single engagement as confirmed unless the Palace or the host government has stated it, do not treat attendance at a reception as agreement to a policy, and do not treat the absence or presence of a formal apology as settling the wider reparations debate, which involves governments, not only the monarch.
For related coverage, see our explainer on what the Earthshot Prize is and how it works and our report on the Earthshot Prize 2026 finalists.
Frequently asked questions
When is King Charles’s Caribbean tour in 2026?
From Tuesday 27 October to Wednesday 4 November 2026, according to Buckingham Palace. The tour ends with the King and Queen’s departure from Antigua and Barbuda on 4 November.
Which countries does the tour visit, and in what order?
The Bahamas first, then Guyana, then Antigua and Barbuda for CHOGM 2026. The King travels alone to The Bahamas and Guyana; Queen Camilla joins him in Antigua and Barbuda, on the Palace programme’s own wording.
What is CHOGM, and when is CHOGM 2026?
CHOGM is the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, the Commonwealth’s highest-level gathering. CHOGM 2026 takes place from 1 to 4 November 2026 in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, under the theme “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”, according to the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Has the Palace published a day-by-day itinerary?
No. The Palace programme published on 2 October 2026 lists engagements by country and theme, without assigning dates to individual engagements. Any dated timetable for a single engagement should be checked against Palace or host-government announcements, and is labelled as reported where it appears in this article.
Updated: 28 October 2026. This explainer is based on the Palace programme published on 2 October 2026 and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s CHOGM announcements. It will be updated on the same URL if the Palace or the Secretariat publishes a dated itinerary or a summit communiqué.
Sources
- The Royal Family (Buckingham Palace), “Announcement: The King and Queen’s Autumn Tour”, 25 August 2026 — https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2026-08-26/announcement-the-king-and-queens-autumn-tour
- The Royal Family (Buckingham Palace), “The King and Queen will visit Antigua and Barbuda, and His Majesty will visit The Bahamas and Guyana”, 2 October 2026 — https://www.royal.uk/news-and-activity/2026-10-02/the-king-and-queen-will-visit-antigua-and-barbuda-and-his-majesty-will
- Commonwealth Secretariat, “Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)” — https://thecommonwealth.org/latest/commonwealth-heads-government-meeting-chogm
- Reuters, “King Charles heads to Caribbean as calls for slavery reparations grow”, 27 October 2026 — https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/king-charles-heads-caribbean-calls-slavery-reparations-grow-2026-10-27/
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