The King and Queen have arrived at a lavish dinner they are hosting for Commonwealth leaders in the luxurious surroundings of their five-star hotel. The King wore black tie, while the Queen looked elegant in a white marocain evening dress embroidered with a Dagger Log – the national flower of Antigua – by Anna Valentine, diamond and gold earrings and a gold necklace.
Charles and Camilla have been guests at the opulent Blue Waters resort during their five-night stay in Antigua and Barbuda and took over the open-sided dining room to welcome 84 delegates, including Prime Ministers, High Commissioners and other officials like the UK's Andy Burnham.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesGuests were welcomed with music from the Hell's Gate Steel Orchestra, which also played for the royal couple outside church on Sunday and which has performed for generations of the royal family, including the late Queen and Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Margaret.
The evening began with a cocktail reception, where guests enjoyed a specially created tipple called "The Commonwealth 56" – consisting of hibiscus gin, sugar syrup made from Buckingham Palace honey, lemon juice and English Sparkling Wine, to the accompaniment of the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony Orchestra.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesLater, they sat down to a three-course meal at specially decorated tables as local pianist Khadijah Simon performed as part of a trio. The King took his seat between Gaston Browne, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, and Feleti Teo, Prime Minister of Tuvalu.
Queen Camilla sat at a separate table between Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Philip E. Davis, Prime Minister of The Bahamas. Charles then delivered his address to the Commonwealth leaders, touching on the strong bond between countries.
"It is one of the few organisations able to unite countries famous for snow, countries famous for deserts, and, most of all – countries whose citizens are utterly convinced they enjoy perfect weather all year round," the King said in his speech.
"Although perhaps part of my role as Head of the Commonwealth is to provide an umbrella for you all!"
He also spoke on the warm welcome the royals received during their Caribbean tour. "We have been enormously touched by the kindness with which we have been received wherever we have gone. And I must say that, during my visit here, it has been a great pleasure to meet so many Prime Ministers – almost as many as I've had at home!"
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesCharles concluded by emphasising the importance of the Commonwealth, sharing: "We meet at a time when many of the institutions on which the world has long relied are under great strain, and when it is all too tempting for nations to retreat behind ever higher walls."
"I cannot help feeling that such a world would be poorer, more fragile and, if I may say so, a good deal lonelier and more dangerous. Our Commonwealth, I think, offers another path. We are a family of fifty-six nations that span every inhabited continent and embrace the widest range of faiths, and, despite everything, care for one another."
© POOL/AFP via Getty Images"No treaty compels any of us to be here. We come because we choose to – and, looking around this room tonight, I find that a source of enormous encouragement and pride." Each Commonwealth leader had a special goblet for the toast placed on the table alongside their wine and water glasses, as per tradition.
The locally-sourced menu, devised with the help of the King's chef Mark Flanagan, featured a salad of avocado, green beans, quails eggs and cherry tomatoes with a pesto dressing, followed by Papillote of Mahi-Mahi steamed with indigenous herbs, seasonal vegetables and new potatoes, followed by Antiguan Black Pineapple Tarte Tatine with vanilla ice cream.
© POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesA selection of wines from Commonwealth nations including the UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada were served, followed by Paddling Duck Bush Tea, Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and hand-painted chocolates. Applying the same dedication they give to state banquets, Royal Household staff sourced table decorations including seedwork mats created by local artisan Louise Edwards – also known as "Sexy Sue" – whom the King and Queen had met earlier during the visit.
Hand-stitched pieces made from wild tamarind seeds and red and black jumbie beads originated with enslaved African women, and the tradition is being kept alive. Tables also featured modern ceramic pieces made by Colin "Wanga" Martin based on the shape of historic sugar mills across Antigua and topped with the leaves of the famous Antiguan black pineapple.
© Getty ImagesNapkins were made from the national fabric of Antigua and Barbuda, known as madras cloth, while bread baskets in the colours of the national flag were woven by visually impaired craftspeople at the Industrial Workshop for the Blind in St John's.
Even the floral arrangements were carefully considered. They featured locally picked heliconias, ginger lilies, torch ginger, foliage from the croton plant and widdy widdy bush – a plant once foraged and used in soups by enslaved plantation workers and which later became a symbol of working-class resilience during a 1951 strike by sugar workers.
The evening concluded with a performance by two pipers and a drummer from the National Piping Centre in Glasgow.
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