Queen's 78th birthday cling film gift from submariners
Queen Camilla visited the base in Plymouth on Wednesday, the eve of her 78th birthday, and the crew came up with the novel gift idea to carry on a joke she first shared with them two years ago.
Her Majesty, the Lady Sponsor of the submarine since 2007, had been amused then to learn that cling film had been used to keep the £1.65bn Astute afloat in an emergency incident.
On Wednesday, she exclaimed: 'Oh my goodness, the famous cling film!' when she was given the present by Cdr Christopher Bate, the commanding officer of HMS Astute.
In her role as Lady Sponsor of the sub, Camilla has been kept informed of operational debriefs and deployments as well as the occasional malfunction on board. She was said to have learnt of the deployment of cling film from her staff.
Cdr Bates explained: 'We had a defect on board and we were losing vacuum in the main engines. The engineers said we could either come back to port to fix it or use something on board. So they used cling film from the galley.
'[They] wrapped it in the engines and stopped air getting into it and reducing the vacuum, and therefore restored propulsion at sea.
'And it's been on there for the last two and a half years, because it's such a big job to change the seals … Her Majesty found it quite amusing when she found out.'
The Queen, who also mentioned the incident in her speech to the ship's company at a garden party on Wednesday, laughed when she was presented with the dispenser: 'Oh brilliant. How lovely, thank you very much.'
She said in her speech: 'Within this ship's company, those extraordinary endeavours range from the innovation of one petty officer…through to the resourceful solution to maintain a vacuum, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, with cling film!
'I can only imagine what the unofficial toolkit in a submarine might look like.'
Cdr Bate said he hoped the dispenser, bearing a gold plaque that states 'Clingfilm, keeping Nuclear Submarines at Sea,' would act as a 'talking piece in her house'.
'She was very pleased,' he added.
The Queen, who was appointed as the first female Vice Admiral of the UK on Wednesday morning during her visit to the naval base, spent part of the day in Plymouth touring HMS Astute and meeting submariners.
She also visited the Children's Hospice South West in Barnstaple, of which she is patron, to celebrate its 30th anniversary.
It emerged that another defect she had been made aware of as Lady Sponsor of HMS Astute was less severe, but she had acted nonetheless.
Following a freezer malfunction on board, she sent the crew tea and biscuits to tide them over after their frozen food went bad.
Speaking about her involvement with the submarine, Cdr Bate said she had been 'a really good supporter since day one' and wrote to the boat regularly.
'We lost a member of the ship's company two a half years ago, which was quite difficult, and she was very supportive – writing to the submarine and to his parents,' he said.
'She's been a great supporter throughout and is genuinely interested about what we get up to at sea.'
Regular letters and Christmas cards
Chief Petty Officer Paddy Ashdown, who has been on HMS Astute since its inception and met the Queen during Wednesday's visit, said: 'She keeps sending letters and Christmas cards out to the boat.'
Michael Pearson, a tactical submariner, added: 'She always writes to us wishing us good luck for our coming deployments.
'It's really nice having someone that high up in the royal family as our Lady Sponsor.'
The submarine was named by Her Majesty, then Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007 and is the lead sub in the Royal Navy's fleet of Ship Submerged Nuclear (SSN) or 'attack' submarines.
The price tag for the fleet of seven nuclear-powered Astute-class attack subs has soared by £1bn over the past year and has taken the entire programme costs to more than £12bn.
Wednesday's garden party for the crew marked the end of the Astute's first commission. Cdr Bate explained that the submarine is now entering a Mid Life Revalidation Programme, which will include a refit – presumably ridding its engines of cling film – before beginning a second commission.
'She's into her mid-life refit now, so probably for the next five years, she'll be in Devonport, and she should come out pretty much brand new,' he said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Marilyn Manson leads rock royalty at Ozzy Osbourne's funeral
By KATHERINE LAWTON and AIDAN RADNEDGE and NICK FAGGE Marilyn Manson has led the stars arriving at Ozzy Osbourne's private funeral this afternoon as the heavy metal icon is laid to rest. The Black Sabbath frontman, who died aged 76 on July 22, is being buried in the grounds of his own mansion in Buckinghamshire - as he had said he desired. Ozzy's widow Sharon and their children were joined by heavy rock icons at today's event at the family's home near Gerrards Cross, where he was being laid to rest near a lake ay the heart of the sprawling 250-acre estate. Guests also included Manson's wife Lindsay Usich, and Ozzy's lead guitarist Zakk Wylde - and in true Ozzy fashion, stars arrived in gothic and heavy metal attire, with Rob Zombie donning skulls on a black scarf while Manson wore a long black jacket. Mourners who attended today include Metallica frontman James Hetfield, and Sir Elton John , as tents were seen across the Buckinghamshire estate's grounds. Speaking in 2011 about how he imagined his future send-off, the Black Sabbath legend said : 'I honestly don't care what they play at my funeral - they can put on a medley of Justin Bieber, Susan Boyle and 'We Are The Diddymen' if it makes 'em happy. But I do want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest.' The funeral cortege yesterday was led by a live brass band, Bostin' Brass, who performed versions of Black Sabbath songs such as Iron Man, as thousands of tearful devotees lined the streets and sang along in Ozzy's memory. Today, marquees and a music stage had been erected next to pond where the private tributes were paid at his home. Guests were seated under huge awnings due to the rain showers that had fallen earlier in the day - while catering facilities, with their own generators, were provided in the garden. However, diehard fans did leave flowers outside the gates to their rock idol. Ozzy had spoken in 2011 about his funeral intentions, telling the Times : ' I want to make sure it's a celebration, not a mope-fest. 'So by any measure, most of us in this country - especially rock stars like me - are very lucky. That's why I don't want my funeral to be sad - I want it to be a time to say, 'Thanks'.' And he wrote in his autobiography I Am Ozzy, published in 2010: 'Eventually death will come, like it comes to everyone. 'I've said to Sharon: 'Don't cremate me, whatever you do.' I want to be put in the ground, in a nice garden somewhere, with a tree planted over my head. 'A crabapple tree, preferably, so the kids can make wine out of me and get [expletive] out of their heads. As things have transpired, huge crowds gathered along the route hours in advance of Wednesday's 1pm start to pay their respects to the Prince of Darkness whose hits included Paranoid and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. The hearse carrying the singer's coffin - adorned with purple flowers spelling out 'Ozzy' - had passed the star's childhood home in Lodge Road, Aston, shortly after midday. Flowers had been placed outside the terraced property, close to Villa Park while the owners of the house put up a picture of Osbourne in the front bay window. The Jaguar hearse and six Mercedes funeral cars, accompanied by police motorcycle riders and a police car, drove slowly along the street watched by a handful of fans and the current owner of the house. Thousands of people were pictured taking their places not only on Black Sabbath Bridge but along the city centre route along which his cortege travelled towards the Black Sabbath Bridge bench. Elsewhere in London, the Coldstream Guards payed tribute to the heavy metal legend at the changing of the guard by performing their own rendition of his hit-song Paranoid. While organizing the procession, Birmingham City Council collaborated with the Osbourne family, who funded all of the associated costs. Ahead of today's follow-up service, the Sun quoted a source as saying: 'Singer Yungblud, who became close with Ozzy in recent years, is going to give a reading. 'His Sabbath bandmates, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, will be there, along with James Hetfield from Metallica. 'Elton John is also hoping to join the family at the church. 'Sharon and his family have been so touched by messages they received not only from Ozzy's friends, but also his fans around the world.' Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates - Butler with the nickname 'Geezer', Iommi and Ward - were recently given the freedom of the city of Birmingham, which recognises people's exceptional service to the city. The group, which formed in 1968, are widely credited with defining and popularising the sound of heavy metal. Osbourne, who also had a successful solo career, found a new legion of fans when he appeared in the noughties reality TV series The Osbournes, starring alongside his wife Sharon and two youngest children, Kelly and Jack . The music star, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2019, performed his last gig on July 5 in a concert that also saw performances from the likes of Anthrax, Metallica and Guns N' Roses. Ozzy took to the stage for his farewell concert at Villa Park stadium in his native Birmingham less than three weeks before his death - reuniting with his original Black Sabbath bandmates for the first time since 2005. More than 42,000 fans packed into the venue for the Back To The Beginning show, during which he told the crowd in his final speech: 'You've no idea how I feel - thank you from the bottom of my heart.' A message on screen then read: 'Thank you for everything, you guys are [expletive] amazing. Birmingham Forever,' before the sky lit up with fireworks. He had told of it being his last performance due to his health, having opened up about his battle with Parkinson's in 2020. In a statement shared last Tuesday, Ozzy's family said he died 'surrounded by love' , adding: 'It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away this morning.' He is survived by his wife Sharon and his five children Jessica, Louis, Aimee, Kelly and Jack. Daily Mail revealed last Wednesday that an air ambulance was called to Osbourne's grand country home as paramedics battled to save his life for two hours. Friends told the Mail's Alison Boshoff that his heartbroken wife Sharon was considering now burying Ozzy in the gardens of the 350-acre estate in an intimate family funeral.
The Sun
9 minutes ago
- The Sun
Beloved children's author who wrote over 150 books dies aged 87 – 30 years after first wife died of cancer
A BELOVED children's author who wrote over 150 books has died aged 87. Allan Ahlberg produced a host of bestselling nursery classics during a stellar career as an author. 1 Belinda Ioni Rasmussen, CEO of Walker Books Group, which published some of his books, said: "He was enormously playful in spirit and language and had the ability to make you smile in one sentence. "Allan inspired generations of children's writers, inspired all of us who worked with him, and inspired artists to make some of their very best work.' He came to writing in his late thirties, when his wife Janet grew tired of illustrating non-fiction and asked him to write a story for her to illustrate. Allan later recalled the moment was "as if she turned a key in my back and I was off". The Ahlbergs went on to produce 37 books together, and Allan also wrote more than 100 others, some in Janet's lifetime, and some since her death from breast cancer in 1994. Their collaborations included such lasting favourites for the very young as Peepo!, The Baby's Catalogue and Each Peach Pear Plum. Following Janet's death Allan worked with illustrators such as Raymond Briggs and Bruce Ingman. His career came full circle in a series of collaborations with his daughter Jessica including Half a Pig and a pop-up set of anarchic variations on the tale of Goldilocks.
Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Crime writer Lynda La Plante slams fellow author Richard Osman and reveals she switches off the TV when he's on before pretending to VOMIT in scathing rant
Lynda La Plante has slammed fellow author Richard Osman in a scathing rant, revealing she switches off the TV whenever he appears. The best-selling crime author, 82, appeared on a The Ryan Tubridy on Virgin Radio on Thursday, where she didn't hold back on her thoughts of the former Pointless star, 54 - even pretending to vomit when discussing him. When asked who her biggest competition was these days, Lynda initially remained coy as she responded 'everybody', but soon singled out Richard when pushed for a name. Sharing her thoughts on the Thursday Murder Club author, Lynda hit out at the frequency of his TV appearances, even suggesting the success of his books was down to his constant presence on television. She told Ryan: 'My bete noire… Richard Osman. Now the reality is… I mean you can't watch any program on television without him looming in it and I immediately turn it off. 'I can't stand it because then people say "well how do you think his books shoot to number one?" You know and a big movie made of his last book and you go, "if you're on TV every 10 minutes , your public will buy you" and that is it. It is so important for writers like me to get on shows like yours, because it really does reach out to readers. The Prime Suspect writer then proceeded to pretend to vomit during the interview. Presenter Ryan then went on to say how refreshing it was to hear a guest being so honest, to which the screenwriter and ex actress noted that it's 'difficult' to do so as she'll be 'attacked'. She responded: 'No you're not allowed to be honest. You've got to be lovely to everybody. This is what is often very difficult. You can't actually be rude about anybody because then you'll be attacked or my publishers will tell me off. Everybody will tell me off don't swear don't do this don't do that and you get a little bit paranoid.' In response to Ryan's comments about her being a woman who speaks her mind, Lynda added: 'I'd love to but I'm not allowed to.' Lynda has produced some of British TV's most successful detective show, is renowned for creating strong female characters in TV dramas such as Prime Suspect, Widows and Trial And Retribution. Lynda's words against Richard comes after he recently admitted he pined for his wife Ingrid Oliver over a protracted 12-month period before finally meeting her for the first time on the set of a BBC quiz show. Osman exchanged vows with the actress in 2022 following a whirlwind romance that began two years earlier, when she featured as a guest on his popular House Of Games TV series. 'My bete noire… Richard Osman. Now the reality is… I mean you can't watch any program on television without him looming in it and I immediately turn it off' But the presenter and author admits he was already interested in Oliver - best known for her former role as Petronella Osgood in Doctor Who - through their previous interactions on social media. 'I was aware of Ingrid from social media and thought she was very funny, but beyond a single tweet we'd never communicated,' he told The Sunday Times. 'I asked our mutual friend, the comedian Lou Sanders, to check if Ingrid was available. She wasn't. Twelve months later, in 2021, Ingrid was a guest on my quiz show House of Games. 'This time Lou told me Ingrid was available, so I spent a long day in front of the cameras desperately trying not to flirt. I made eye contact less with her than any other guest ever.'
