King Charles raised smiles as he became the first reigning male monarch to visit Bermuda in the territory’s 400-year history, telling garden party guests: ‘I am terribly sorry it has taken so long!’

Charles told the garden party on Friday evening it was ‘to his amazement’ that he learned Bermuda had never previously received a reigning king.

Raising a toast to the island at the garden party, the King said: ‘I need hardly say that Bermuda, like all the Overseas Territories, is a most cherished and important member of the British family – with a friendship as solid as this so-called “Rock”.’

He spoke at the event in Government House, where he stayed during his visit and which has so recently been refurbished that the King told guests it still smells of fresh paint.

It came as he prepared to end the two-day visit by launching the UK Space Agency’s (UKSA) Project Nova, aimed at helping to track space debris.

A new UKSA observatory on the island was set to host the King on Saturday, where he will be told about the effort to oversee telescope installations across five sites worldwide to help track debris including old satellites and rocket stages.

The King was also scheduled to open the new Great Bay Coast Guard Station on the final day of his visit and learn about the Royal Bermuda Regiment’s Coast Guard’s work to protect the island’s territorial waters and marine environment.

He will also view the regiment’s new unmanned underwater vehicles and drones.

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King Charles told a garden party at Bermuda’s Government House in Friday evening he was ‘terribly sorry it has taken so long’ for the island to receive a reigning monarch

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Charles met Clyde Best, the Bermudian former West Ham striker and one of the first black players in the English First Division, at the garden party

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On Friday the King arrived for a ceremonial welcome at King’s Square in St George’s, Bermuda

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He was given a ceremonial welcome as he became the first reigning monarch to visit the island in its more than 400-year history

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He greeted members of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club in the island’s capital, Hamilton

Young people from the Junior Leader programme were also set to discuss their involvement in the scheme with the monarch, before he awards operational service medals to five regiment members for their commitment to protecting the island.

On Friday Charles was given a special boat trip with the Bermuda Coast Guard as huge crowds came to greet him.

The monarch boarded a Fast Inshore Patrol Boat and ripped through the bay at up to 50mph.

He was given a briefing by the Coast Guard Commanding Officer, Major Jeffrey Patterson, who explained about the group’s work protecting life at sea and tackling illegal fishing and smuggling.

The Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard was established in 2020 and has already become an internationally recognised force with elite training from UK and US Coast Guard.

Charles greeted Bermudians as he boarded the speedboat at the dockyard, with one man holding a glass of rose from his boat replying: ‘God save the King’.

The King, alongside his protection officers and senior staff, donned a protective life jacket and waved to two more boats of Royal fans waving Bermudan and Union flags.

After a busy State Visit to the US, the 77-year-old King – who is still undergoing cancer treatment – flew to Bermuda on Thursday from Washington.

On Friday he undertook eight public engagements and was without his wife, Queen Camilla, after she flew back to the UK on a commercial flight as part of a long-standing arrangement.

The King’s last official visit to Bermuda came in 1970 to deliver the Speech from the Throne in St Peter’s Church at the 350th opening of the island’s parliament.

During Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee year in 2012 the church was designated ‘Their Majesties Chappell’ to recognise the island’s 400th anniversary.