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.
Advertisement
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.’
The Queen has flown on board the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth to wish the crew well as they make final preparations to depart on the carrier’s first operational deployment.
The £3 billion warship, carrying eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets, will depart later on Saturday for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters, a company of Royal Marines.
The Queen was welcomed on board at Portsmouth Naval Base by the ship’s commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG).
She was given a briefing on the 28-week deployment which will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.
Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sets sail after royal visit guardian-series.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from guardian-series.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.