Royal news live: King Charles says painful past still hurts as calls for slavery reparations grow in Samoa

Rugby player Mike Tindall found himself in trouble after he joked about the royal family wanting to “fill Harry in”, podcast co-host James Haskell revealed.

Podcast hosts Tindall, Haskell, and Alex Payne have reelased a book called ‘The Good, the Bad & the Rugby - Unleashed’, in which Haskell revealed the awkward joke made by Tindall, who is married to the late Queen’s granddaughter Zara Tindall.

“[Mike] even got into a bit of trouble when he appeared on a live version of A Question of Sport: he told a story about him and Iain Balshaw pretending to punch Prince Harry at a post-World Cup final party in 2003 and joked that the royal family wanted to fill him in for real,” Mr Haskell explained.

“I say trouble but it was a bit of a minor kerfuffle, nothing to write home about.”

But the story came back into public consciousness when that “very odd bloke Omid Scobie started sticking up for Harry and Meghan,” Haskell wrote, according to the Mirror.

“Loads of trolls went in on Tins, especially about him wanting to fill in a young, defenceless Harry. All context, sarcasm and humour lost, when things are taken out of the zone they were meant to be in.”

The King is expected to tell world leaders that unity is their strength, enabling them to tackle the “demands of our time”, when he officially opens a major Commonwealth summit for the first time.

Charles will address presidents and prime ministers when he launches the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) in Samoa on Friday, saying “all nations are equal in this unique and voluntary association” which “is committed to developing free and democratic societies”.

The event will be a milestone moment for the UK’s head of state, who is expected to highlight the purpose and strengths of the “family of nations”.

He is also expected to speak about the importance of recognising and understanding the path of history, and where that may have given rise to contemporary challenges.

An Indigenous senator has intensified her criticism of King Charles, again accusing the British monarch of complicity in the “genocide” against Australia’s First Nations peoples and declaring on Wednesday she will not be “shut down.”

Sen. Lidia Thorpe’s comments followed an encounter with the monarch at a parliamentary reception Monday where she was escorted out after shouting at him for British colonizers taking Indigenous land and bones.

Despite facing political and public backlash, Thorpe was resolute in a television interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and said she would continue to press for justice.

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Long after the Queen has gone to sleep, the King can be found “toiling” away into the small hours.

That’s what Queen Camilla joked of her 75-year-old husband’s diligence, as she gave a speech praising the work ethic of women.

At an event in Samoa led by leading domestic abuse campaigners from around the world, Camilla told the audience the legend of the men and women who were tasked with thatching the roof of Samoan chief Tautunu’s house.

“Although they started at the same time, the women finished their side first, as they had laboured through the night, while the men slept,” she told attendees of the women’s forum event at the major summit for Commonwealth leaders in Samoa.

“As one whose husband is often toiling into the small hours, long after my head is on the pillow, I should stress there are plenty of exceptions,” she added.

“But the moral of the proverb is: Women will turn their hands successfully to any task that must be done; and will work hard until it is completed.”

Queen Camilla spent time with schoolchildren today during her visit to a Samoan village.

The royal family said in a post on X: “The aoga faifeau was one of the earliest primary education programmes in Samoa, and the country’s high literacy levels are often attributed to the scheme.

“In Moata’a Village, The Queen spent time with schoolchildren, as they sang songs and told Her Majesty more about what they have learnt recently.”

Reparations for the slave trade could be discussed as Commonwealth heads of government convene in Samoa for the leaders’ summit.

British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer touched down Samoa overnight on Thursday for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm).

The Commonwealth leaders are expected to agree plans to discuss reparations as they look at an agreement which could open up the conversation through a communique, the BBC reported.

It comes despite Downing Street previously claiming the issue would not be on the agenda.

Mr Starmer said ahead of travelling to the Pacific island: “On the question of which way we’re facing I think we should be facing forward,” he told reporters.

“I’ve talked to a lot of our Commonwealth colleagues in the Commonwealth family and they’re facing real challenges on things like climate in the here and now.”

While reparations are not formally on the agenda, conversations on the wording for a communique are possible.

The Polynesian country of Samoa is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including tropical cyclones and storm surges, flooding, and more severe and longer-lasting droughts like other Small Island Developing States.

Moata’a village was chosen to welcome the royals after the area was badly affected by flooding in 2018 and in response the community’s council developed a plan for future natural disasters and has established a mangrove conservation area which the King visited.

Moata’a village chief Tofaeono Lupati Fuatai said: “The King is the perfect advocate for us as a nation. Climate change is real, it is now and we must urge the world to acknowledge how perilous it is for nations such as ours.”

The fashion designers behind Diana, Princess of Wales’s wedding dress have settled a High Court claim over the sale of the drawings for the famous royal gown.

David Emanuel had filed a lawsuit against his ex-wife Elizabeth Emanuel, claiming that she had infringed his copyright by reproducing drawings of the designs on which they had collaborated. The drawings, including those for Diana’s wedding dress, were put up for auction without his consent, he said.

The one-time husband and wife team announced on Friday that they had settled the case “amicably.” Terms of the settlement weren’t released.

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