King Charles III took part in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony before a line of bare-chested and heavily tattooed Samoans Thursday, as he readied to be made a “high chief” of this Pacific island paradise.
The British monarch is on an 11-day tour of his Australian and Samoan realms — the first major foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Wearing a cream safari-style suit, the 75-year-old king sat on a stage at the head of a carved timber longhouse, where he was presented with a polished half-coconut filled with the mildly narcotic brew.
“Ava” is the native term for the peppery, mildly intoxicated root beverage that is an integral element of Pacific culture.
A symbolic argument between the “talking chiefs” over who would make the drink kicked off the ceremony.
The kava roots were paraded around the marquee, and finally prepared by the chief’s daughter and filtered through a sieve made of the dried bark of a fau tree.
Once ready, a Samoan man screamed as he decanted the drink, which was finally presented to the king.
Charles uttered the words: “May God Bless this ava” before lifting it to his lips. The ceremony concluded with claps.
Charles’ wife, Queen Camilla sat beside him, fanning herself in the stiffling tropical humidity.
