After a hectic nine-day tour, taking in three countries, four speeches and some 40 different engagements - all in searing heat, bar one notably heavy downpour - the secret of the King and Queen's tour success can be revealed.
According to a senior palace aide, the royal couple rely on the three S's. "I think the secret for both of them… is firstly stamina, because they are intense visits; secondly stoicism because not everything goes right, but it's how you deal with them in the moment that matters; and finally a sense of humour."
Nowhere was that more evident than at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in St John's, Antigua, where the royal couple were caught in heavy rain as they prepared to watch an Independence Day Parade.
After initially appearing frustrated that he did not have an umbrella to hand – aides were hampered by strict no movement rules during the playing of the Antigua and Barbuda national anthem – the monarch later laughed it off, joking that he was "growing watercress" on his damp trousers. Days later, at a dinner hosted by the King and Queen for Commonwealth leaders, the monarch again joked about it, saying that "part of my role as Head of the Commonwealth is to provide...