The King made a joke at his own expense as he hosted Commonwealth leaders at the end of his Caribbean trip, saying he would provide an 'umbrella for you all'.

Charles was caught in a tropical rainstorm earlier this week and shown angrily gesticulating for a brolly in footage which has gone around the world.

Delivering a speech on Tuesday at a final dinner at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, in which he hosted 84 dignitaries at Blue Waters hotel, he called the 'family of nations' one of the 'world's more improbable organisations', spanning some of the largest countries and Earth and the smallest.

'It is one of the few organisations able to unite countries famous for snow, countries famous for deserts, and, most of all – countries whose citizens are utterly convinced they enjoy perfect weather all year round.

'Although perhaps part of my role as Head of the Commonwealth is to provide an umbrella for you all...!'

The joke was received with laughter in the dining hall, and a round of applause.

The King hosted Prime Minister Andy Burnham, as well as heads of government from around the Commonwealth, who earlier appeared to be joking about a fall he had playing cricket on Sunday with the Master of the Household at Buckingham Palace.

His wife, Marie-France van Heel, wore a floor-length sparkling gown.

The King wore a black tie, miniature medals, the Order of Merit badged around his neck and the garter star, while Queen Camilla wore a white Moroccan evening dress by Anna Valentine, embroidered with a Dagger Log, the national flower of Antigua.

Her gold and diamond jewellery was from her personal collection.

Speaking about the welcome given to the King and his wife to Antigua and Barbuda, His Majesty said: 'We have been enormously touched by the kindness with which we have been received wherever we have gone.

'And I must say that, during my visit here, it has been a great pleasure to meet so many Prime Ministers – almost as many as I've had at home!'

In more serious moments, he touched on the importance of the Commonwealth.

'Ladies and Gentlemen, we meet at a time when many of the institutions on which the world has long relied are under great strain, and when it is all too tempting for nations to retreat behind ever higher walls,' he said

'I cannot help feeling that such a world would be poorer, more fragile and, if I may say so, a good deal lonelier and more dangerous.

'Our Commonwealth, I think, offers another path. We are a family of fifty-six nations that span every inhabited continent and embrace the widest range of faiths, and, despite everything, care for one another.

'No treaty compels any of us to be here. We come because we choose to – and, looking around this room tonight, I find that a source of enormous encouragement and pride.'

The King, on table one, sat between the Prime Minister of Tuvalu and the Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda. The Queen hosted table two, with the Prime Minister of the Bahamas on one side and the Prime Minister of Australia on the other.

Charles had also invited Dr Carla Barnett, Secretary-General of Caricom, the leading reparations campaign group in the Caribbean, in a nice diplomatic touch.

His guests were seated around nine round tables, with white tablecloths, cutlery and glassware provided by the hotel.

Heads of Government also had gold goblets to drink from, owned by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The menu consisted of local ingredients from Antigua and Barbuda.

A salad of avocado, green beans, quail eggs and cherry tomatoes with a pesto dressing was followed by a papillote of Mahi-Mahi, a locally caught fish, with seasonal vegetables.

An Antiguan black pineapple Tarte Tatin followed, with hand-painted chocolates to finish.

The wine list consisted of Camel Valley English sparkling wine, which holds a double royal warrant, and wines from the wine-producing realms of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada.

A bespoke cocktail, called the 'Commonwealth 56' in a twist on the French 75, was served, made from Antilles Stillhouse Pink Sorrel Hibiscus Gin made on the hills above the English harbour in Antigua, and a sugar syrup from Buckingham Palace honey.

It follows a new palace tradition introduced in the King's reign for State visits in the UK, in which an in-house mixologist creates a bespoke cocktail reflecting the traditions of the visiting country.

Each table had a woven bead centrepiece, made by a local artist who goes by the name of Sexy Sue.

Upon them were white ceramic pieces by Antiguan artist Colin 'Wanga' Martin, inspired by the sugar mills of the island and the leaves of the Antiguan black pineapple.

The napkins were woven in the national fabric of Antigua and Barbuda, and the bread baskets were made by the Industrial Workshop for the Blind in Saint John's.