22 May 2021
The seven-month global deployment will extend through the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean and on to the Indo-Pacific, interacting with more than one fifth of the world’s nations.
Britain’s new flagship aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, will lead six Royal Navy ships, a Royal Navy submarine, a US Navy destroyer and a frigate from the Netherlands in the largest concentration of maritime and air power to leave the UK in a generation.
Her Majesty the Queen visited her namesake vessel – which she commissioned in 2017 – this morning before the aircraft carrier set sail from Portsmouth, meeting crew members and wishing them luck in what will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth has set sail for its first operational deployment after the Queen flew onboard to wish the crew well.
Hundreds of people lined the harbour walls to wave off the £3 billion warship as it set off from Portsmouth Naval Base for the 28-week deployment by the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) to the Indo-Pacific region which will cover 26,000 nautical miles.
The Queen was welcomed by the ship’s commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK CSG, after arriving by helicopter while the 65,000 tonne ship was still at base.
She was given a briefing on the deployment which will take the CSG through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.
The Queen has visited HMS Queen Elizabeth on Saturday morning ahead of the flagship s 28 deployment
The monarch, 95, arrived by helicopter on board the aircraft carrier at Portsmouth Naval Base for the tour
She donned a rouge button-up jacket and a scarab brooch, which was gifted to her by Duke of Edinburgh
It is her first public appearance since Prince Harry s bombshell comments on Oprah s new Apple TV+ series
The former royal accused monarchy of total neglect , a smear campaign against Meghan and even bullying
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The Queen is said to be ‘deeply upset’ by what she considers a series of ‘very personal’ criticisms of her family by Prince Harry.
Royal sources say the Monarch has been shaken by Harry’s repeated comments since the devastating interview that he and wife Meghan gave to Oprah Winfrey in March.
One source said: ‘Harry’s grandmother has taken this very personally and is deeply upset by what Harry has said, in particular his comments about Charles’s parenting and suggesting his father knows no better because of how he was brought up. It has been a very upsetting time.’