The King was transformed into a boxing champion with rippling muscles on a T-shirt when he met young pugilists showing off their skills in the ring.

Charles was immortalised on black T-shirts, complete with crown, gloves, shorts, and a boxing belt, worn by young fighters and their head coach.

The Bahamas Boxing Academy, which opened in April to develop the next generation of fighters, welcomed the King to its base in the Yellow Elder district of the capital Nassau.

Charles, a few days into a tour of the Caribbean, was joined by sports minister Mario Bowleg and Prime Minister Philip Davis, who has championed the academy and described boxing as being deeply rooted in the “Bahamian DNA”.

Clubs from other areas were invited and Jermaine Gibson, president and chief executive of the All-Out Boxing Club, was wearing the Charles T-shirt he created.

“Ha!” said the King, pointing and laughing at the shirts.

“We made one for you, I had it made last night,” Mr Gibson told him.

Accepting the gift, Charles, still laughing, replied: “How generous.”

Afterwards Mr Gibson, whose club is based on the neighbouring island of Grand Bahama, said: “He loved it, he loved it.

“He said it was really good and we gave him one of his own.”

The academy trains boys and girls aged eight to 18 and Charles saw primary school age children working on their punching skills and older boys in the ring sparring.

Jayda Burrows, 16, stopped hitting a punch bag and told the King she does two hours of training after school most days.

“And are you getting better and better? It looks like it,” he asked her.

When he chatted to a group of children, Charles joked about their gym sessions, asking: “It’s not an excuse to get out of school?”, before adding: “I might see you at a Commonwealth Games.”

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