King Charles III got caught without an umbrella during a sudden downpour at Antigua and Barbuda’s 45th independence anniversary parade on Sunday, and cameras caught him visibly irritated as aides scrambled to protect Queen Camilla first.
The rain hit hard during the ceremony at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium. Camilla, 79, was handed an umbrella almost immediately. Charles, 77, was left looking around for one of his own before finally getting covered, according to BBC footage. He joked to Prime Minister Gaston Browne, “I think I’m about to grow watercress on my suit,” a moment captured on the Royal Family’s Instagram account.
Charles wore a beige suit and colorful tie for the event. Camilla wore a white Anna Valentine chiffon dress with gold embroidery.
The soggy moment is a minor footnote to a tour that has been dogged by bigger trouble. Charles began the nine-day Caribbean trip on Oct. 27 in the Bahamas before traveling to Guyana and then Antigua. Camilla joined him on day five, and the two attended a church service together at St. John’s Pentecostal House of Restoration in Antigua on Sunday afternoon, where she wore a turquoise sundress and matching earrings.
Protesters Greet Him in Nassau
The tour has unfolded against a backdrop of renewed demands that the United Kingdom pay reparations for slavery. When Charles landed in Nassau last Tuesday, protesters gathered and shouted “pay us what you owe us” and “return artefacts you’ve stolen,” according to the BBC.
Speaking at a youth rally in the Bahamas that same day, Charles acknowledged the history without committing to reparations. “I say transforming because we know some of what is best about Bahamian culture today: The most joyful, the most hopeful, the most bright, was born out of darkness,” he said, according to People. He added: “It is only right that we should acknowledge the great suffering and injustices of the past in these islands and beyond, even as we rejoice in the successes of the present and build new opportunities for the future.”
Those words did nothing to quiet the protesters waiting for him on the ground.
Health Still a Factor
Charles is continuing the tour while being treated for cancer, a diagnosis made public after Buckingham Palace confirmed in January 2024 that he was being treated for benign prostate enlargement. Officials said at the time he had not been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but it was during that treatment that cancer was detected elsewhere.
In July 2025, Charles told a cancer survivor his health had improved significantly. By December, he said “thanks to early diagnosis, effective intervention and adherence to doctors’ orders, my own schedule of cancer treatment can be reduced in the new year.” Prince William has stepped in for his father on royal duties at times during the treatment, though Charles has kept up a full schedule on this trip.
