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King Charles and Queen Camilla Soak Up Island Vibes While Enjoying a Special Drink in Samoa.Linh

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After visiting Australia, the King and Queen are in Samoa for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting

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King Charles and Queen Camilla with members of the local rugby team during a visit to the Samoan Cultural Village in Apia, on Oct. 24, 2024. Photo: Aaron Chown-Pool/Getty

King Charles got into the island vibes in the Pacific as he started his first full day in Samoa!

Charles, 75, wore a white bush jacket trimmed with embroidery by the Samoan School of Fine Art as he and Queen Camilla — also dressed in all-white — were welcomed to the island state on Thursday, Oct. 24.

Charles was handed a special ‘ava drink as part of a spectacular ceremony. Taking the small bowl of the ‘ava drink – created by meticulous pounding of the root into a fine powder before it is mixed with water – he poured some onto the ground, as is traditional, and then took a sip. The drink is a symbol of community and connection, Buckingham Palace said.

He and Camilla — who used a fan complete with her royal cipher to keep cool in the humidity — were then presented with garlands to wear. (The King’s was created from dried fruit of the pandanus tree and the Queen’s was made from flowers.)

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The special ceremony — held at the National University of Samoa and hosted by Head of State of the Independent State of Samoa, Le Afioga ia Tuimaleali’ifano Va’aleto’a Sualauvi II — is reserved only for monarchs.

The royal couple were offered gifts including, a hand-woven fabric and a whole pig, which was wrapped and carried to them on a wooden platform by four chiefs. It will be returned to the village, the home of Samoa’s head of state, for local families to eat, The Telegraph reported.

Men, dressed in ‘ai lavalava’ skirts and necklaces, heralded the couple by blowing in conch shells.

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Queen Camilla and King Charles in Apia, Samoa, on Oct. 24, 2024.Chris Jackson/Getty

The centerpiece of the visit to Samoa will be the opening of the the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) on Friday Oct. 25, and traveling from the airport earlier, their motorcade passed through villages which were celebrating the event. Each one had adopted a different country of the 56-nation Commonwealth, with lawns decorated with the flags of the corresponding country, the BBC reported.

The state visit to Samoa follows five days in Australia for Charles and Camilla, 77.

The royal couple was also shown around Moata’a Village (pop. 1,420) to gain a sense of village life, which is said to be central to the fa’a Samoa (the ‘Samoan Way’) — focusing on family, church, and duty.king charles queen camilla samoa 10 24 24

Later, Charles was taken on a walk through an area where mangroves are being protected in Moata’a Village. Mangroves provide vital nurseries for many fish and invertebrate species and produce wood for fuel and bark, used in clothing dyes, for the local villages. But they are vulnerable to environmental degradation and human development.

Camilla, meanwhile, was taken to Moata’a Village’s aoga faifeau (or pastor school), where she listened to the children singing traditional songs and watched a literacy activity focused around traditional story-telling techniques. Camilla is a champion of literacy in young children and adults in the U.K. and around the world.

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Queen Camilla talking at an event tackling violence against women and girls on Oct. 24, 2024 in Samoa.Ian Vogler-Pool/Getty

The Queen also spoke at a high-level CHOGM event aimed at highlighting the ongoing campaign to tackle violence against women and girls — a commitment Camilla has made both at home and abroad. Moderated by the Founder of Women of the World Foundation, Jude Kelly, the CHOGM side-event was one of a series that have been taking place across the Commonwealth to engender more effective collaboration between governments, leaders in civil society and the private sector to confront the issue.