King Charles grimaces as he sees a woman given a ‘painful’ tradition | Royal | News

King Charles grimaced today as he watched the ‘painful’ process of having a traditional Samoan tattoo engraved on the skin of a woman in Samoa.

The king, who is on his eleven-day tour of Australia and Samoa with Queen Camilla, had a great interest in Tatau, the sacred art of Samoan tattooing.

John Lemisio showed him his family of tattoo artists during His Majesty’s visit to the Samoa Cultural Village in the country’s capital, Apia.

The king asked if it was “painful” and John laughed and said, “It is very painful, very painful.”

When Charles asked, “Does the pain last very long?” John replied, “It’s a life of pain.”

Ask: “Do you need a drink for that?” The king was told: ‘No. No meds.”

The tattoo artist went on to say, “Welcome to the house of pain, Your Majesty!”

The king replied, “Yes, it must be very painful.”

Each tattoo design is rich in meaning and represents personal stories, heritage and social status.

As a result, Samoan tattoo artists must have both great cultural knowledge and skills.

Charles was dressed in Samoan style for his visit today, swapping his signature suit for a white jacket and short-sleeved trousers that he designed himself.

Earlier in the day, Samoa’s head of state and his village bestowed the highest honor on the king by organizing an ava ceremony at which the drink, prepared by the statesman’s daughter from powdered ava root and representing community unity, was presented to Charles presented.

The ceremony was held at the National University of Samoa, in a falesamoa, a large covered open-air hall made of enormous wood and guarded by a ring of malosi ole nuu, bare-chested, armed with sticks from their office and wearing sarongs and streamers.