The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

GOVERNOR General Dame Cynthia “Mother” Pratt told King Charles III last night that she hoped his visit had shown him the “legendary hospitality” of the Bahamian people, as she wished him a long reign and welcomed him “home to The Bahamas”.

“Your Majesty, may your reign, sir, be long. Let me say that loud so you can hear me good. Your Majesty, may your reign be long, blessed, and marked by peace across the Commonwealth,” Dame Cynthia said at a garden reception at Government House, one of the final engagements of the King’s three-day visit.

King Charles smiled and laughed at several points during her speech.

Addressing community leaders, government officials, union representatives and other guests, Dame Cynthia said she was honoured to welcome the King back more than 50 years after his last visit as Prince of Wales, when he represented his mother at the 1973 independence celebrations. It is his first visit as monarch since succeeding Queen Elizabeth II in 2022.

“During your brief stay with us, you would have witnessed a modern Bahamas that cherishes its past while pressing forward toward a promising and productive future,” she said.

She said she trusted the King had seen the country’s strength, creativity, deep-rooted traditions and passion for its culture, which she said told the story of who Bahamians are as a people.

Dame Cynthia described Government House as an estate that has stood for more than two centuries as the official seat of state, welcoming monarchs and world leaders, and welcomed the King as its latest guest. She said she hoped his visit would strengthen the bonds of friendship between the Crown and The Bahamas.

After the speeches, the King greeted guests including former prime ministers Hubert Ingraham, Perry Christie and Dr Hubert Minnis, as well as representatives of the disability community, the creative industry and the health profession.

The reception capped a packed day. The King toured the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base at Coral Harbour, where he laid a wreath for the four marines killed in the 1980 HMBS Flamingo attack, before visiting Bonefish Pond National Park and the Bahamas Boxing Academy. In Parliament Square, he joined a Junkanoo rush-out along Bay Street.

His visit has also drawn protests from the Rastafarian community and the Bahamas National Reparations Committee, who are demanding that Britain apologise and pay reparations for slavery. At Tuesday’s youth rally at Clifford Park, the King said it was “only right” to acknowledge “the great suffering and injustices of the past”, but stopped short of an apology.

He leaves for Guyana today before travelling to Antigua and Barbuda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which runs from November 1 to 4.