King Charles may be turning 78 next month but he still knows how to party.
The reigning monarch took to the streets in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, during the second day of his Caribbean tour on Oct. 28, where he donned a pair of sunglasses, shook cowbells and danced with Bahamian flags in his hands.
The king joined a traditional junkanoo parade in Parliament Square as he kicked off his controversial tour of the region, which will also take him to Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda, where Queen Camilla will join him.
On social media, many were delighted to see the monarch moving to the beat of the music, shuffling and swaying as performers in elaborate, bright costumes whirled around him.
“His security are having a nightmare by the looks of it,"
wrote one person on Instagram. "The coolest king ever," wrote another.
"I think it’s fair to say King Charles LOVED Junkanoo in the Bahamas! We completely lost him!" Rebecca English, the Daily Mail's royal editor wrote on X, alongside footage that showed the monarch disappearing behind a sea of costume feathers.
The king's public dancing display comes almost a year after he announced that he was reducing his cancer treatment schedule. Buckingham Palace has never disclosed the type of cancer Charles was diagnosed with in 2024 or the prognosis. In a recent interview, the monarch's estranged son, Prince Harry, said his fatherwas "getting better."
While Charles appeared to be in high spirits as he spent time in the Bahamas, the royal tour has sparked dancing and unity but also debate and anger.
In the lead up to the nine-day trip, protesters, campaigners, experts and politicians have called on the king to use the moment to apologize for Britain and the royal family's roles in the transatlantic slave trade and to honor widespread calls for reparations.
As he landed Oct. 27, Charles was met with a group of protesters, with some carrying signs that read: “Pay us what you owe us.”
Buckingham Palace said earlier this month that the king would not shy away from addressing “the darkest days of our past,” though on British government advice, he will not issue a formal apology for Britain's colonial past.
Speaking at an event in the Bahamas on Oct. 27, the king said the country's culture was "born out of darkness" and that “it is only right that we should 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 king said he was aware that "leaders of the governments of affected Commonwealth countries will be discussing these matters in Antigua and Barbuda next week.”
Next week the monarch will give a speech at a meeting of Commonwealth heads of government.
Following the king's landing remarks, the Bahamas National Reparations Committee issued a scathing statement, saying the head royal's comments "fall short of what justice requires," the Daily Mirror reported.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: See King Charles unleash surprising dance moves at Bahamas parade
