King Charles III will travel alone to the Bahamas and Guyana before Queen Camilla joins him in Antigua and Barbuda for a Commonwealth leaders’ summit, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The nine-day tour, from October 27 to November 4, will begin with a solo royal visit by the King to the Bahamas, where he remains head of state. He will then travel without the Queen to Guyana for a state visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between Britain and the South American country.

Camilla will join Charles for the final leg of the tour in Antigua and Barbuda, where the couple will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, or CHOGM, from November 1 to November 4.

“Their Majesties’ Autumn Tour will celebrate communities, cultures and nature within the Commonwealth family,” Buckingham Palace said.

The palace said Charles’s visit to Guyana would be made at the invitation of President Irfaan Ali and at the request of the British government. Further details of the royal programme are expected to be announced later.

Antigua summit preparations

The Antigua visit will bring the King together with leaders from across the 56-member Commonwealth at a summit that the host government has been preparing for since last year.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne, speaking in February as preparations for CHOGM gathered pace, said his country was preparing to welcome the “Commonwealth family” and serve as a venue for “dialogue, partnership and shared purpose”.

The comments preceded Buckingham Palace’s announcement of the royal visit and were made in the context of Antigua and Barbuda’s preparations to host the summit.

CHOGM will be held under the theme “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”, with the government seeking to use the gathering to promote investment and greater cooperation among member states.

At the launch of the summit last year, Browne said Antigua and Barbuda was “proud to open our doors to the Commonwealth in 2026”, describing cooperation as central to delivering economic progress.

The gathering comes amid wider Caribbean calls for greater international action on climate finance and development funding, alongside the region’s continuing campaign for reparatory justice over slavery and colonialism.

Royal significance in the region

The tour also carries different constitutional significance at each stop. Charles is head of state in the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda, while Guyana has been a republic since 1970 after gaining independence from Britain in 1966.

The King, 77, disclosed in February 2024 that he was receiving treatment for cancer. He has since resumed overseas travel alongside his programme of public duties.

Charles has visited all three countries previously. His trip to the Bahamas will be his first as King, while Camilla’s visit to Antigua and Barbuda will be her first official visit to the twin-island nation.