Reporting on the ground with King Charles, HELLO!'s Royal Editor Emily Nash dialled in from the Bahamas to join the team of A Right Royal Podcast to unpack the monarch's high-stakes Caribbean tour. In this week's episode, Emily gives an eyewitness account of the ecstatic reception at Clifford Park and the political debate surrounding slavery reparations, plus Prince William's TV appearance on The Graham Norton Show, and the distressing revelations regarding Meghan Markle's father.
Scroll down to listen to the full podcast episode.
King Charles’s reception in the Bahamas and the reparations debate
Q: You've dialled in from the Bahamas on the King's Caribbean tour. What has the reception been like on the ground?
Emily Nash: "It's been an incredible start to the tour so far. We had a ceremonial welcome at the airport, and then we went straight to Clifford Park for a youth rally. And the reception there, I know I sent you some footage, was absolutely incredible. There were hundreds of young people and children in the stands, and they went crazy for the King. I've never really seen anything like it. It was quite an unusual sight. Royal visits do get big crowds, and they do get a lot of cheering, but this was slightly off the charts. And I think that bodes really well for what looks like it could be quite a controversial trip.
"One thing you should know is that they were amping the crowd up quite a lot before he arrived, and there was a lot of music, a lot of singing along, and then we even had some Bahamian cabinet ministers get up in front of the crowd and start dancing. Now, the idea of our government ever getting up and dancing is something that makes me feel a little bit queasy, to be honest, but these guys carried it off."
Q: Were the British rota tempted to join in with the dancing?
"Oh, there was a little bit of dancing on the stand. There was! It was kind of infectious. The music was so loud, it was pretty hard not to get involved.
"I think probably the heat and the drums do get you in the mood a little bit more. But the King seemed to be loving it. He watched various performances by children, as young as four or five, right up to young people in their 20s. And he, I think, particularly enjoyed this because this was the exact place where he came as a young man in 1973 on behalf of the Queen to celebrate the Bahamas gaining their independence.
"So it's been 50 years since he was last here. And he really went for it. He used some local dialect when he arrived. He got up, he said, 'I reach, amen,' which apparently means 'I've arrived.' And the crowd went crazy for him."
Q: There is a complex political backdrop to this tour, with calls for apologies and reparations. What is happening behind the scenes?
Emily Nash: "Well, right from the start, the King has addressed historic slavery and colonial legacy, and that is going to be a theme throughout this trip on every stop. So, he's going from here to Guyana, from Guyana to Antigua and Barbuda, and that's where he'll attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Now, there are lots of Caribbean leaders in particular who are calling for an apology for the historic trade in enslaved people, and also for the wider impact of Britain's colonial legacy. So the fact that all these countries haven't been able to develop as quickly as other parts of the world because their economies haven't been as effective for hundreds of years, and this is something that they're all calling for an apology.
"Now, we know, and we've heard from the start of this, and from even before the beginning of the tour, that the King can't take that call himself. He can't apologise; he can't offer reparations. This is government policy, and he has to go with UK government advice. But it doesn't mean people aren't going to keep asking for it. And as we arrived at Clifford Park last night, there was a really small protest, around 30 people, but quite noisily calling for an apology and for reparations. I think this is something he's going to come up against on every stop of the visit. But that said, they're factoring in quite a few moments for him to acknowledge the past and to visit sites connected to historic slavery.
"So, he's not, as Palace aides keep saying, shying away from the conversation in any way, but he does have limits on what he can do. So, it's going to be interesting to see this mixture of a really warm welcome alongside pockets of protest and then quite serious discussions about the issue next week in Antigua."
Q. Why won't the British government agree to an official apology?
"I think the minute you apologise, you accept liability. So, from a legal point of view, you're then open to claims for compensation, and that could run into trillions of pounds, and that's certainly something that Keir Starmer and his government are not eager to get involved with at this moment. And this has been the policy of the British government for many years now. If you look back to the King's visits to Kenya, to Rwanda back in 2022, the same conversations were happening, and Boris Johnson was Prime Minister at the time of the Rwanda CHOGM, and he made it very clear at the time that the King couldn't go any further than the government wanted him to. So, he's kind of hamstrung, and it's something he obviously really cares deeply about and feels a kind of moral responsibility for. So, I think that's a difficult line for him to maintain, but he's doing as much as he can in the circumstances."
Q: When will Queen Camilla be joining the tour, and how is the King managing his schedule on his own?
Emily Nash: "The Queen won't arrive in the Caribbean until the weekend, and she's going to join him in Antigua and Barbuda. And we know she's going to be 77 next year. She doesn't love long-haul travel. She, I think, finds being out in the heat all day quite draining, and it's tough for most people who are out working in the early 30 degrees all day long. So, she's going to come later, but she will be at his side for the big events at CHOGM. She's got quite a few engagements of her own as well.
"But it's interesting to see him on his own, and he's been doing this for such a long time now. He's such a pro. When he got up and made his speech yesterday at the Youth Rally, he was full of little jokes, references to the little competitions between the local Junkanoo bands. This is the traditional dance culture performance that they put on here in the Bahamas, and they take it really seriously. It actually has its roots in enslaved people, so it's something that's been evolved now to become a source of great pride and a big cultural moment here. And he acknowledged that in the speech, and he said how they'd really taken on their ancestors' legacy and made it something really special. And so he's so hyper-conscious of everything, the amount of planning that must go into this, the amount of learning that he has to do and awareness. And you saw that lovely picture that the palace posted of him sitting on the front of the Voyager doing his work, reading his notes. We were all doing the same down the back of the plane."
© Getty ImagesPrincess Catherine’s meeting with Melinda French Gates
Q: Details have emerged of a meeting between the Princess of Wales and Melinda French Gates. What is the significance of this?
Emily Nash: "That's right. She had a meeting with Melinda French Gates. This is the former wife of Bill Gates of Microsoft fame. And they shared some details on that on Wednesday. And this is really interesting because I was looking back through my notes. They actually met in the summer of 2025 as well. Do you remember the Princess was due at Ascot and then she didn't go, and we didn't see her for a little while, and this was all part of her gradual return to public duties. But she did, around that time, have an initial meeting with Melinda French Gates.
"And there's a potentially really exciting collaboration there. Melinda French Gates has this organisation called Pivotal. It's all about accelerating social change through investment. And this really ties in with what Catherine is doing in terms of her early years work. So I think that's definitely something to watch, and that's potentially really exciting for the Royal Foundation to have somebody with access to that level of investment and funding wanting to work with them to speed up the projects they're involved in."
© WireImagePrince William on The Graham Norton Show and Earthshot
Q: Prince William made an appearance on The Graham Norton Show alongside Earthshot advocates. How did you view his talk-show appearance and how does it compare to one Harry might have done?
Emily Nash: "Well, I think you can't really compare a Harry appearance with what William did, because this was very specifically about the Earthshot Prize. And he did answer a few personal questions, and I think that's also partly because of Ofcom rules around how much you can promote an event, certainly on the BBC. But I think it's a great coup for the Earthshot Prize. It's probably the biggest media moment for them since we turned our HELLO! masthead green on behalf of Earthshot Prize last year.
"I think it worked really well because you brought together these people who are all huge advocates for it, but you didn't realise for the first 20 minutes or so what the connection was and what it was all about. And you had great names, Cate Blanchett, Hannah Waddingham, Robert Irwin - who I adore - I mean, the guy is just so, so likeable and such a brilliant communicator, and it's really exciting that he's going to be hosting in India next month.
"And then they brought William out, and obviously we knew that this was going to happen, but it's still great to see him. And, obviously, I've been covering him for many, many years now, and I do see that kind of humour up close. But I think it's nice for it to reach a wider audience.
"And I even thought he's just very much himself. I thought he looked a bit nervous when he first came out. He was doing the whole, holding onto the tie and shifting his jacket a little bit. But then he warmed up as it went on, so to me it felt like what you see is what you get, which is what people around him say all the time. He doesn't have a poker face. He is somebody who just completely is himself. And so I think it was nice for the wider public to see that, but also to understand a little bit more about the great projects coming through in Earthshot.
"And we had a lovely shout-out to our friends at Notpla who appeared on our live podcast going back a couple of years now, Pierre Paslier. So he's going to be in Mumbai as well. And it's just nice to build up a bit of a buzz around this event."
© World Health Organisation via GeRevelations surrounding Thomas Markle and Meghan's new TV role
Q: Meghan has had a week of deeply difficult headlines regarding her father, Thomas Markle, alongside happier news that she will co-host Junior MasterChef Australia. What is your perspective on what she has been going through?
Emily Nash: "It's been a week of very unexpected headlines for Meghan, and this was a happier one. And good luck to her. We know she's been looking to get back on the screen and do work around that. I think it's interesting to see how it's going to play out with her heading to Australia. Will she go with Harry? Will they take kids out of school? Will she just go on her own for a while? But it's coming up and it's happening fairly soon. I think probably on a personal level she needs the distraction right now, I think it will do her good.
"We should probably go into the fact that there's been this awful, awful story about her father, Thomas Markle, and actually we at HELLO! over the years have chosen not to really report on the back and forth between him and members of the family out of respect for her because it was always, we thought, a very difficult situation and now we have further evidence of that.
"So just to recap, there's been a very disturbing story coming out in The Sun newspaper. There are very serious allegations of child sex abuse relating to Thomas Markle, which he's very strongly denying. But Meghan has come out with a statement and said that in 2019 she received a letter via the Metropolitan Police. We now know that letter was written by Thomas's first wife, Roslyn Loveless. She made very serious allegations in it about his behaviour. And from that moment, Meghan decided, she says, to break off contact and she decided she didn't want her children to have a relationship with her father.
"Now over the years there's been continued stories coming from Thomas Markle saying that he wants a relationship with his daughter. It's been confusing because Harry and Meghan did talk about this in their Netflix docuseries, and Harry even said that he felt a responsibility for her losing her relationship with her father because of everything that had happened. And there was still quite a lot of discussion about the media being the problem in this situation. We now know it was far more complicated, but she can be forgiven for not wanting to share that with the wider world, aside from the fact as well she was advised not to do so for legal reasons.
"So it's all come to a head. It's all out in public now. The Philippine authorities where he was living are investigating. We understand the FBI are also potentially looking into this situation. The Metropolitan Police are investigating why they didn't alert anyone to this at the time that they passed on the letter. So it's a very, very difficult and painful moment for her. And from talking to people close to her, she's been in bits. She's really struggling. She's away with Harry and the children at the moment for half term. They're surrounded by some close friends. She has other friends checking in with her daily.
"Whatever your feelings about her, whether you're a fan or not a fan, and we know many people aren't, you cannot help but feel some sympathy for her being caught up in this situation which is way beyond her control and deeply, deeply troubling.
"That is something that people close to her have said to me this week: that on the one hand she's looking at her own children who are obviously very young and feeling horrified on behalf of any other children allegedly caught up in this situation. But at the same time, there is a sense of relief because it's something that she and Harry have had to carry for a very long time, and people close to them as well. And so there is a degree of relief that people now know the full story."
Q: Do you think she might adopt an attitude of 'keep calm and carry on'?
"This is not going to go away anytime soon. There is going to be the outcome of the forensic testing that's been done on items that were taken from his property in the Philippines. So that's going to be another marker in this story. I think she doesn't have any option other than to carry on. She has kept a relatively low profile for long periods over the last couple of years, but that doesn't make sense at the moment, where she is trying to relaunch herself, where she's running this business, and she's also trying to get back into acting. So it's a really, really awful situation for her to be dealing with, but I think as we said earlier, having the distraction of work, the children, her various projects is probably a good thing."
© Getty ImagesWhat’s next on the royal calendar
Q: Beyond the Caribbean tour, what upcoming royal engagements and international travel should we look out for?
Emily Nash: "Princess Anne has a flying visit, a very quick visit to South Africa coming up. The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh have been in Finland this week, and the Duchess of Edinburgh is actually coming out to Antigua early next week. She's going to be attending an eye health summit, which is associated with the Commonwealth events here. So it's a really busy time for the royal family, and we know, of course, the Prince and hopefully Princess of Wales are heading to Mumbai in just a few weeks as well. So, yes, my feet are not touching the ground.
"It's actually happening at the same time as both the King and Queen carrying out engagements, so at the minute we're looking into how we can potentially cover that, but there's a lot going on. And I'll be writing some special dispatches from here for our VIP members as well, so do keep your eye out for those."
