Wire reporting: (AP, via Arab News), (Reuters, via Daily Maverick)

King Charles III is scheduled to address the transatlantic slave trade in a speech to Commonwealth leaders in Antigua on Tuesday, Buckingham Palace said, on the last stop of a nine-day Caribbean tour^1,7,9.

A Palace spokesperson said the king would not shy away from "the most shameful aspects of the past" and would speak with "unflinching honesty" and "sincere sorrow," while respecting talks among governments at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting¹.

The king arrived in Antigua on Friday evening after stops in the Bahamas and Guyana^1,7,9. CHOGM is set for Nov. 1-4^9,18.

In the Bahamas, he told a youth gathering that some of what is brightest in Bahamian culture "was born out of darkness" and that it was right to acknowledge past suffering and injustices^7,18. He later joined a Junkanoo parade in Nassau as protesters held signs calling for compensation^7,18.

In Guyana he visited a site of a slave rebellion, the Palace said, as part of learning about slavery and resistance¹. Guyanese President Mohamed Irfaan Ali has said recognition of slavery should be followed by an apology⁹.

U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in an opinion piece that he was open to a formal British apology for the U.K. role in slavery, a shift from prior government language, according to the BBC¹. The Palace said it had advance notice and that the king did not change his speech; a spokesperson said it would not be appropriate for the king to address U.K. government policy¹.

Buckingham Palace has said a formal apology is a matter for the British government, not the monarch^1,7. Campaigners and some Caribbean officials have pressed for an apology and for reparations; Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey has said the issue is expected to come up at CHOGM^7,18.

The British government has not issued a formal apology or offered reparations, outlets reported^1,7. Jamaica, where Charles remains head of state, last month filed a London court petition tied to reparations, France 24 reported¹⁸. Officials in the Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda have signaled interest in becoming republics⁹.

France 24 reported the 77-year-old king is receiving treatment for cancer and that Queen Camilla will join him in Antigua¹⁸. The Palace said his program has also covered the environment, youth and trade^1,3.

What the king will say in the CHOGM address, and whether London will change its stance on an apology or payments, remains to be seen^1,7.