Photo: DPI Guyana
First visit in 26 years: King Charles welcomed with a guard of honour in Guyana
King Charles has left The Bahamas and arrived in Guyana. President Irfaan Ali welcomed him at the airport, where soldiers from the Guyana Defence Force were lined up. The state visit marks 60 years of relations between the two countries.
After three days in The Bahamas, King Charles travelled on to Guyana in South America on Thursday. There he begins a two-day state visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Guyana and the United Kingdom. It is his first time in the country since February 2000, when he came as Prince of Wales.
Before leaving, the King waved goodbye from the aircraft steps at Lynden Pindling International Airport in Nassau.
A guard of honour at the airport
The King landed at Cheddi Jagan International Airport on Thursday afternoon. President Irfaan Ali greeted him at the aircraft together with several of his ministers and leaders of the country's uniformed services. Soldiers from the Guyana Defence Force formed a guard of honour, and the King and the President stood side by side on a dais during the ceremony.
What is on the programme
From the airport, the King was due to go on to State House, the President's official residence in Georgetown, for a meeting with President Ali. This is followed by a reception in the State House gardens with people from communities across the country.
During the visit the King will also meet young environmental activists at the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown, meet scientists and Indigenous community members at a major biodiversity conference, and lay a wreath at the war memorial in the capital. On Friday he ends the visit at the Georgetown seawall, where he will see how mangroves are being planted to protect the coast from the sea.
Calls for an apology
As in The Bahamas, the visit is accompanied by calls for Britain to apologise for slavery and pay reparations. President Ali has said the King's earlier expressions of regret about the past are welcome, but that a formal apology is the next step. The British government has so far rejected both an apology and reparations.
After Guyana the tour continues to Antigua and Barbuda, where Queen Camilla joins the King. There he will open the Commonwealth summit, CHOGM 2026.