Queen makes first public appearance since Harry talks about ‘nightmare’ life
The monarch was 'very chatty' and 'very smiley' as she toured the HMS Queen Elizabeth ahead of a seven month voyage.
The Queen had a smile on her face as she made her first public appearance since Prince Harry accused the royals of ‘total neglect’.
She visited the Navy’s £3.2billion flagship aircraft carrier just 24 hours after her grandson took another swipe at his family.
Harry laid bare his mental health struggles to Oprah Winfrey on his Apple TV+ documentary, The Me You Can’t See, describing his life from 28 to 32 as a ‘nightmare’.
He said he and his wife Meghan Markle often felt ‘completely helpless’ as royals and said they were met with ‘total silence or total neglect’ whenever they asked for help.
It has been a particularly troubling week for the Royal Family, as it emerged Princess Diana had been deceived by BBC journalist Martin Bashir when she agreed to give an explosive interview in 1995.
All of this follows the continued fallout of Harry and his wife Meghan Markle’s ‘tell-all’ with Ms Winfrey in March in which a number of shocking claims were made about the Royal Family.
Despite all of this, the monarch appeared in good spirits as she was flown aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth to wish the crew well ahead of the carrier’s first operation deployment.
Today the warship, carrying RAF F35B stealth fighter jets, will depart 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.
The Queen also had a chance to meet some of the 1,700 personnel on board the carrier which include Royal Navy sailors, Royal Air Force airmen and women, Royal Marines, and 250 United States personnel.
Her visit followed a tour by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday.
She was wearing a brick-red military-style cashmere coat with a black velvet collar and buttons, over a crepe wool dress by Stewart Parvin and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat.
She was also wearing a scarab brooch which was a gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.
It is understood that the Queen is keen to recommence more public engagements in the coming months instead of the virtual events which have taken up much of her schedule since the pandemic hit.
Captain Essenhigh said: ‘It’s always a great privilege to host the Queen and to have her as both our sovereign and our lady sponsor come and wish us well as we set off on a seven month deployment is something incredibly special.’
The Queen presented a medal for 15 years’ long service and good conduct to Petty Officer Matthew Ready, 38, from Gosport, Hampshire. He said: ‘It was an incredible honour for me and my family.’
Among those to meet the Queen was Engineering Technician Marine Engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who said: ‘It was brilliant, she was very chatty, very smiley.’
Able seaman Chelsea Paterson, 24, from Chirnside, Scotland, added: ‘It was incredible, an honour to see her, let alone speak to her, the highlight of my career.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.