Royal Navy: Delighted King Charles III visits HMS Prince of Wales ahead of major global deployment - pictures

King Charles III flew to HMS Prince of Wales in the English Channel, where he spoke to sailors and was shown around the 65,000-tonne ship. He also watched as F-35B fighter jets carried out landing exercises on the deck of the Portsmouth-based aircraft carrier.

Charles was visiting in his role as the Honorary Commodore-in-Chief Aircraft Carriers – marking the first time in nearly 40 years that a reigning monarch has visited a Royal Navy warship at sea. His trip came during the closing stages of crew’s intensive training before setting sail for Japan on a mission to deepen the UK’s defence partnerships and promote security and stability.

He told told personnel gathered in the hangar: “As you prepare to set sail as the flagship of the UK Carrier Strike Group, building on the success of HMS Queen Elizabeth’s inaugural deployment in 2021, I just wanted to express, on behalf of the nation, my heartfelt gratitude for the extraordinarily valuable contributions and personal sacrifices that you and your families continue to make in the name of duty. I can sense the anticipation and excitement amongst many of you today for what lies ahead over the next eight months and all I can say is I will be watching your progress with great interest.”

Charles arrived from Sandringham by Royal Navy Merlin helicopter and was joined aboard by the First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key, the head of the Royal Navy, and chief of the Royal Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton.

HMS Prince of Wales’ Commanding Officer, Captain Will Blackett, said: “It was a great honour to host His Majesty onboard today. I was able to show him first hand that HMS Prince of Wales is at high readiness, standing by to deliver for the UK when ordered. His visit was a great source of morale for my excellent ship’s company and we look forward to doing him proud in all our endeavours this year.”

Able Seaman Marc Rutherford, who met the King on the ship’s bridge, said: “It was the proudest day of my life since joining the Royal Navy, I’m still in shock, he was funny and I was surprised he would support a team like Burnley – Newcastle would be much better.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced in December that the flagship will head the carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific during which it will become the first of the two Queen Elizabeth class carriers to visit Australia. The £3.2bn warship will also take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre, a multinational exercise hosted by Australia involving 19 nations.

The King followed in his late mother’s footsteps with the visit. Queen Elizabeth II was welcomed aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth by Royal Navy sailors while she was alongside Portsmouth in 2021, before the then-flagship deployed on her own global mission to the Indo-Pacific.

As part of the upcoming deployment, HMS Prince of Wales will sail to Japan for a series of military drills and diplomatic visits. HMS Prince of Wales will be leading the UK Carrier Strike Group, which will be joined by international allies. British soldiers were deployed to Kyushu, the third largest of Japan’s main islands, as part of Exercise Vigilant Isles in January. The aim was to improve military teamwork between the two island nations.