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With four days spent at the heart of US politics, finishing in Bermuda looked like an inspired decision for the King, but debate in the overseas territory continues over whether to cut ties with its former colonial master, ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship reports
The King bid farewell to Bermuda after a busy few days celebrating the island, the people and its culture, following his four-day trip to the US. Charles spent his final day on the Overseas British Territory officially launching Project Nova, an ambitious UK Space Agency (UKSA) initiative to track space debris, and opened the new Great Bay Coast Guard Station.
The King declared “the force is with us” as he gave the seal of approval to the new world leading observatory.
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The first phase in Project Nova, which cost £40 million, is to establish three telescopes on the north west coast of Bermuda, about 620 miles off the US coast, which will be able to spot asteroids or rogue satellites heading towards Earth.
Charles told the Astra Carta team working with UKSA he had completed a garden with the design based on the revolution of the planets, before he unveiled a plaque to launch the project.
He said: “I’ve just done a garden based on the planetary movements, because if you trace them it’s amazing how they all form the most beautiful patterns.
Charles boards a plane at LF Wade International Airport at the end of his two-day Bermuda visit Credit: PA
“It’s so interconnected really, in all forms. So as they say, the force is with us.”
Charles also visited the new Great Bay Coast Guard station before his visited ended, and saw the operations room where staff can monitor CCTV images of the coast line and track vessels.
He presented an Operational Service Medal to members of the military during the visit.
The King arrived in Bermuda on Friday, kicking off his visit with a ceremony at the territory’s former capital St George’s, where a 21-gun salute heralded his arrival at the aptly named King’s Square.
Charles presented an Operational Service Medal to members of the military during his visit to Great Bay Coast Guard Station Credit: PA
He was received by the Commanding Officer of the Royal Bermuda Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Simons, with the moment watched by hundreds of school children and islanders.
Many of the islanders had come prepared for the royal visit, with one little boy, Theo Godfrey, aged four, dressed like a guardsman in a red tunic and imitation bearskin hat.
His mother purchased the outfit from the official Buckingham Palace shop two years ago and joked: “He’s worn it ever since!”
Charles stood on a dais as the royal salute was given by the troops and remained motionless as the national anthem was played by a regimental band.
Charles arrived in Bermuda on Thursday, after visiting the US Credit: PA
Parade Commander, Major Kenji Bean, then invited the King to inspect the guard of honour and he walked with Charles as he strode past the troops.
Charles then went to meet the crowds, shaking hands with well-wishers as the military band played Bob Marley and the Wailers song Jamming.
Later, he watched the release of an Atlantic seabird after being ringed and joked, “it’s bound to land on my head”.Charles then travelled to Trunk island, one of the many rocky outcrops around Bermuda, to chat to children being taught about conservation and wildlife through practical education, known as living classrooms, led by the Bermuda Zoological Society (BZS).
Charles met members of Bermuda youth organisations on the waterfront of The Camber Credit: PA
The King planted a cedar tree, a native species that has been mostly lost from the island and which provided hurricane protection and other benefits.
He was also joined by a group of children as they watched three land hermit crabs being released and scuttling into the undergrowth after being moved from a development site that threatened them.
As well as being on land, the King joined Bermuda’s coastguard in a boat trip, where he learned about their work combatting illegal fishing and smuggling.
He also travelled to the National Museum of Bermuda, where he viewed a display at the 1850 Ordnance House which traced darker moments in the island’s history, with a cabinet dedicated to trade, slavery and conquest.
Members of the National Gombey Dance Troupe met and performed for Charles during the visit Credit: PA
It included a drawn image of shackled men sitting in a slave ship and several examples of neck irons.
There, he watched a performance of the island’s Gombey dance tradition, an expression of culture that had been restricted during slavery to just a few times a year.
Irwin Trott, spokesman for the Bermudan Gombey dance troops, said after meeting the King: “I told him that it’s a combination of cultures, African, Caribbean, West Indian, Native American and, of course, Great Britain.
“Gombey is a premise from the Atlantic Slave Trade when they were brought over by the colonisers and shipped to New England and the Caribbean islands.
Theo Godfrey, four, dressed as a guard as he waited for King Charles Credit: PA
“Even though they were stripped of their identity, names were taken, their language was taken, deep in their heart they maintained their culture, and so it still flourished throughout the Caribbean.
“It was prohibited, so they were only permitted to perform on Christmas and New Year’s.”
Charles later spoke during a reception in the garden of Government House in Hamilton, where he met Bermudian football player Clyde Best and received a toast from Governor of Bermuda, Andrew Murdoch.
He told guests: “I am told to my amazement it is also the first time in Bermuda’s 400-year history that the islands have received a reigning King. I am terribly sorry it has taken so long!”
He observed students releasing hermit crabs at the Palmetto Forest during a visit to Trunk Island’s Living Classroom Credit: PA
The King’s arrival in Bermuda on Thursday evening came after a four-day state visit to America, where he helped put the UK-US special relationship on a firmer footing.The monarchy’s soft power diplomacy is seen as its strongest weapon in support of the UK’s overseas interests and it appears his host President Donald Trump was won over.A parting gift came from the US leader who lifted tariffs on Scottish whisky after an intervention by the Queen and King.
This is the Talking Royals – our weekly podcast about the Royal Family, with ITV News Royal Editor Chris Ship and Producer Lizzie Robinson.