King and Queen share good humour during visit to Antigua and Barbuda

Spontaneous street dancing and getting drenched in a downpour were two memorable moments from the King’s Caribbean tour that showed his lighter side.

Charles surprised crowds by joining a Junkanoo carnival parade through the streets of Nassau, capital of the Bahamas, last week and he appeared to become attached to a pair of cowbells he shook as he danced.

And when the heavens opened soon after he arrived for Antigua and Barbuda’s independence day celebrations he was left calling for an umbrella as he got soaked before seeing the funny side.

A senior palace aide said about the King’s nine-day trip: “The standout image for me, of course, like everyone I’m sure, was the Junkanoo.

“The King said, ‘I think I’m going to get involved’, and off he went and did.”

The aide joked that at the end the organisers asked if they could have their cowbells back.

Asked whether the King, who is still receiving ongoing treatment for cancer, faced any limitations because of his health and age, the aide replied: “I think probably the best response to that is a picture of a man about to turn 78 wangling the cowbells as he jives down the street in nearly 40 degree heat.

“When the engagement finished, I get in the car next to him and say ‘crikey, I’m hot’. He says, ‘Oh, never mind’. So no, he copes. I mean, frankly, he copes better with it than I do, and I’m younger than him.

“This is literally what he was born to do, he’s very good at it, and he enjoys the reaction he gets from people in the doing of it.”

The King was left waiting in the rain for an umbrella when caught in a torrential downpour at celebrations marking Antigua and Barbuda’s 45th anniversary of independence.

Charles threw up his arms and repeatedly asked for an umbrella when the heavens opened just as he arrived at the Sir Vivian Richards cricket stadium on Sunday.

The Queen was quickly handed her see-through dome umbrella and rushed to nearby royal seating, later seeing the funny side of the moment.

The aide said: “I was lucky enough to be sitting up with the Queen, not getting wet.

“She came back up, as had always been the plan, and she looked round at me, and she just burst into sort of fits of laughter, saying, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever been so wet in my life’.”

The aide said the King later joked, “I think that might be the last you see of that suit”.

The aide added the King wanted to do his “job properly” and inspect the troops on parade and would have wanted to be delayed by the weather for the shortest period possible.

But mishaps can be part of the royal day and the couple do not let problems phase them.

“I know at the end of each day, and sometimes at the end of each engagement, they have a good laugh together about where things have gone (amiss).

“It may have gone a bit wonky, but fundamentally underpinning it is that strength of their relationship and their determination to keep cracking on despite age and circumstance,” said the aide.