Buckingham Palace has announced an ambitious eight-day Autumn Tour of the Caribbean for Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, scheduled to run from October 27 to November 4, 2026. The multi-stop royal itinerary will center on the couple’s attendance at the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, with preliminary official visits to two additional regional nations ahead of the global gathering.
Before the opening of CHOGM, King Charles III – who serves as Head of State for The Bahamas in addition to his role as Head of the Commonwealth – will first carry out a royal visit to the island nation. Following that trip, the British monarch will travel to Guyana for an official State Visit, extended at the formal invitation of Guyana’s President and at the request of the United Kingdom government. This 2026 visit will mark a major milestone: six decades of formal diplomatic and bilateral relations between the UK and the South American Commonwealth nation.
Across the entire tour, Their Majesties will focus on highlighting the diverse communities, rich cultural traditions, and unique natural environments that bind together the 56 member states of the voluntary Commonwealth association. The 2026 CHOGM itself will be hosted in St John’s, the capital of Antigua and Barbuda, running from November 1 to 4. The quadrennial gathering brings together sitting heads of government from all 56 member countries, alongside delegations from global business networks, civil society groups, and youth-led organizations working across the Commonwealth bloc. The official theme for the 2026 meeting is “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”, which will frame discussions on shared economic growth and cross-nation collaboration.
For the royal party, the tour will hold personal as well as official significance. King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) previously visited Antigua and Barbuda in 2017, in the immediate aftermath of catastrophic damage caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria, when he travelled to survey recovery efforts and meet affected communities. For Queen Camilla, this 2026 trip will mark her first ever official visit to the twin-island nation. The King also has prior ties to the other stops on the tour: he carried out official visits to Guyana in February 2000, and previously visited The Bahamas in July 1973 for its independence-related celebrations.