Overview
- The royal tour is confirmed to run from October 27 to November 4 with visits to the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda and a planned appearance at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
- Buckingham Palace says the programme will acknowledge the 'wrongs of the past' but that the King will not issue a formal state apology or offer financial reparations because those actions are matters for the UK government.
- Caribbean campaigners and some governments are pressing for a formal apology and reparations, using protests and legal steps to press their case and questioning the relevance of the monarchy in the region.
- Royal historian Sir Anthony Seldon and other commentators warn the trip poses a major risk to the monarchy because public expectations, local politics and legal actions are largely outside the King's control.
- Under the UK constitution the sovereign acts on ministerial advice, a constraint that makes the palace stance predictable and that could heighten calls for republican change, protests at events and sharper focus on reparations at CHOGM.