King Charles III took part in a traditional kava-drinking ceremony before a line of bare-chested, heavily tattooed Samoans and was declared a "high chief" of his Pacific island realm on Thursday.
The British monarch is on an 11-day tour of Australia and Samoa, independent nations where he is still head of state -- the first major foreign trip since his cancer diagnosis earlier this year.
Wearing a white safari-style suit, the 75-year-old king sat at the head of a carved timber longhouse where he was presented with a polished half-coconut filled with a mildly narcotic kava brew, AFP reported.
The peppery, slightly intoxicating root drink is a key part of Pacific culture and is known locally as "ava.”
The kava roots were paraded around the marquee, prepared by the chief's daughter and filtered through a sieve made of the dried bark of a fau tree.
Once ready, a Samoan man screamed as he decanted the drink, which was finally presented to the king.
Charles uttered the words: "May God Bless this ava" before lifting it to his lips. The ceremony concluded with claps.
Charles's wife, Queen Camilla sat beside him, fanning herself to ease the stiffing tropical humidity.
Many Samoans are excited to host the king -- his first-ever visit to the Pacific Island nation that was once a British colony.
The royal couple later visited the village of Moata'a where Charles was made "Tui Taumeasina" or high chief.
According to local legend, the area around Moata'a is where the coconut originated.
"Everyone has taken to our heart and is looking forward to welcoming the king," local chief Lenatai Victor Tamapua told AFP ahead of the visit.
"We feel honored that he has chosen to be welcomed here in our village. So as a gift, we would like to bestow him a title."
