KING Charles looks ready to rum-ble on his Caribbean tour after tasting a tipple brewed in his honour.
His Majesty looked delighted after taking a swig of the “very good” Royal Welcome rum at a state banquet in Guyana.
He turned to onlookers and asked: “Do you drink this? Endless rum punches?”
The King began his two-day visit to Guyana in the capital, Georgetown.
But the celebrations came as a Caribbean leader who welcomed Charles earlier in his nine-day tour revealed he is “open” to ditching the monarch.
Philip Davis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas, spoke out after hosting the King earlier this week before Charles left for Guyana.
The King acknowledged the “great suffering” of the slave trade in an address after arriving in the Bahamas on Tuesday.
He was hosted by PM Davis, who joined him at the youth rally for the speech and in Parliament Square before the King danced in the street with partygoers.
PM Davis will join the King and other world leaders at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, where issues of a formal apology for slavery and demands for reparations will be raised.
Speaking to Sky News, PM Davis said acknowledgement of the slave trade could mean reparations in the form of education and support, such as work by The King’s Trust, and not necessarily financial payouts.
Questioned whether Brits should be made to compensate for actions several centuries ago, the PM said: “I think they have to appreciate the weight of that history and that ancestors like ourselves continue to bear.”
He admitted any proposal to ditch the King as head of state would need to be put to a public vote in the Bahamas and said he was “agnostic” on the issue.
But he was elected in May without calling for a referendum in his manifesto.
Asked if he will hold a vote, he said: “That’s a question for my people, I mean.
“I think we have some very passionate Bahamians who say we should be a republic.
“Equally, we have many passionate Bahamians saying that we ought not to rid ourselves of part of our history.
“And for us to move to a republic, it would require a referendum. Referendum in this country is not fared well, but that question would be a question for our people.”
He said: “I’m guided by the will of my people.”
Asked if he was “open” to ditching the King, Mr Davis said: “I’m open to it, yes.”
Charles attended the ceremony in Barbados in 2021 when the country ditched the late Queen as head of state and became a republic.
But the government did not hold a referendum on the issue.
The King is not issuing a formal apology for slavery or agreeing to reparations, in line with Government policy.