King Charles emerges in the Bahamas for first engagement following groundbreaking speech

RBDF personnel lined the route beyond the main gate to welcome His Majesty. The King also greeted several senior figures, among them National Security Minister Myles LaRoda, Attorney General Wayne Munroe, and Health and Wellness Minister of State Owen Wells.

Deputy Commander Captain Natasha Miller and Coral Harbour’s Captain Sonia Miller were likewise presented to the monarch.

Standing on a raised dais, the King received a Royal Salute performed by a Guard of Honour and Colour Party comprising 106 officers and marines. The military band followed with a Royal Fanfare before playing the Bahamian national anthem.

His Majesty subsequently carried out an inspection of the Royal Guard, a centrepiece of the formal proceedings at the base. The ceremony showed the deep ties between the British Crown and the Bahamas’ armed forces, with the full military honours reflecting the significance of the monarch’s first visit to the Caribbean since his accession to the throne.

The King was shown a specially commissioned plaque marking his visit to the base, displayed alongside Coronation Medals destined for RBDF personnel at a later ceremony.

He then made his way to the Flamingo Monument, where he laid a wreath in memory of four Bahamian marines who perished when HMBS Flamingo was sunk on May 10, 1980. The vessel had come under attack from Cuban MiG fighter jets, claiming the lives of Marines Fenrick Sturrup, Austin Smith, David Tucker and Edward Williams. The solemn tribute formed one of the most poignant moments of the monarch’s engagement at Coral Harbour.

At the monument, the King spent time with relatives of each of the four Marines who lost their lives in the 1980 attack. The families of Sturrup, Smith, Tucker and Williams were individually introduced to the monarch during the deeply personal encounter.

Force Chief Petty Officer Gregory Curry, who survived the sinking of HMBS Flamingo, was also presented to His Majesty. Curry’s presence served as a living connection to the tragedy that claimed his four comrades more than four decades ago.

The meeting with both bereaved families and the sole surviving crew member added a profoundly human dimension to the King’s programme at the naval facility.

The final stop on the King’s itinerary at Coral Harbour was HMBS Lawrence Major, a 56-metre roll-on/roll-off vessel primarily tasked with disaster relief operations. Commander Alexis Brown, the ship’s commanding officer, welcomed the monarch before he stepped aboard.

On the vessel, His Majesty met a broad cross-section of those connected to the RBDF, including members of the ship’s company and the Disaster Risk Management Unit.

Representatives from the RBDF Rangers Youth Programme and the Bahamas National Youth Guards were also introduced to the King, alongside retired Defence Force members, veterans, warrant officers, senior rates and serving marines.

The Coral Harbour engagement formed part of the King’s broader programme in the Bahamas, which began on October 27 with a ceremonial airport welcome and meetings with Prime Minister Philip Davis and Governor General Dame Cynthia A. Pratt.

At a youth rally held at Clifford Park in Nassau, the monarch addressed the region’s colonial history, telling the assembled schoolchildren and dignitaries that it is “only right” to “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.”

The nine-day tour continues a State Visit to Guyana and a Royal Visit to Antigua and Barbuda.