King Charles III celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo this afternoon with a tour and a visit to Trunk Island.

He toured the nature reserve in Harrington Sound, where he witnessed conservation work first-hand and met with middle school pupils during a lesson.

The monarch later cut an anniversary cake in the BAMZ driveway in Flatts Village, while surrounded by volunteers and hundreds of cheering spectators.

Ian Walker, the curator for BAMZ, said having the King over was “a complete honour”.

Dr Walker added: “Just having His Majesty here is so special to us.

“I think his knowledge of natural history and his understanding of many of the things we’re doing is remarkable.

“He loved seeing the kids and I think that was a magical moment. He even got to shake some of their hands.”

The King arrived in Bermuda yesterday evening at about 7.40pm after a trip to the US.

The visit marks his first time visiting the island as a monarch.

King Charles sailed to Trunk Island at about 12.30pm after a tour of St George’s.

He spoke to several Dellwood Middle School pupils on the porch of the Trunk Island Education Centre, who told him they had to identify coral species by their scientific and colloquial names.

One pupil introduced the King to his favourite coral species — Diploria labyrinthiformis, or grooved brain coral.

The pupils were participants of the Kids on the Reef programme, which provides two days of education about marine science and Bermuda’s ecosystems outside of the classroom.

The King then went to an outdoor clearing known as the fire pit, where instructors told him about the pupils’ lessons on soil composition.

Trunk Island volunteers took him through the palmetto forest, where they showed him several land hermit crab specimens.

He learnt there were only about 1,500 specimens alive in the wild, with Trunk Island serving as a space to help restore their numbers.

The monarch then went to Mangrove Pond to learn about the importance of red and black mangrove trees and he planted a Bermuda cedar sapling.

The King closed his visit to the reserve with a stop at the artificial longtail nests along the island’s eastern shore.

Patrick Talbot, a curator at BAMZ, and De’Aisa Symonds, a Bermuda College student, showed the sovereign a longtail specimen and told him about how iconic the bird was, before tagging and releasing the creature.

The King then returned to the mainland, where he met Jaché Adams, the Minister of Public Works and Environment, and celebrated BAMZ’s 100th anniversary.

A well-known environmentalist, the monarch has frequently championed environmentalism and the importance of protecting natural spaces.

He was last year named one of Time magazine’s most influential climate leaders of 2025.

BAMZ reopened to the public at 2pm this afternoon.