King shares ‘salty tales' with old shipmates

Telegraph

11-06-2025

The King has hosted a private Buckingham Palace reception for old shipmates from his naval days to 'share a few salty tales on the trip down memory sea-lane'.
The event, thought to be the first of its kind, was personally requested by the King to thank his old comrades for their 'continued loyalty, laughter and support over the decades'.
It was funded by the monarch privately.
The King, as Prince of Wales, served in both the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the 1970s.
Three months ago, he said: 'My own time at sea… remains one of the most formative, and fondest, experiences of my life.'
Among some 400 guests invited to the reception were previous shipmates and their partners from HMS Bronington, Jupiter, Norfolk, Hermione, Minerva, Hermes, Dryad, Fox, and Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, as well as fellow aviators drawn from 845 Naval Air Squadron, and across the Fleet Air Arm.
When the King gave up his military career to dedicate himself to royal duties in 1976, he used his Royal Navy severance pay to create the King's Trust.
A palace aide said ahead of the reception: 'His Majesty was greatly looking forward to seeing his old shipmates, and no doubt sharing a few salty tales on the trip down memory sea-lane.
'He is most grateful for their continued loyalty, laughter and support over the decades, and looked forward to hearing where life's journeys had taken them all.
'As we approach the 50th anniversary of The King's Trust, which was initially funded with His Majesty's £7,400 severance pay from the Navy, it was a timely opportunity to reflect on what great things have sprung from those formative years – including lifelong friendships and a continued commitment to public service.'
Others invited to the palace on Wednesday included a contingent from HMY Britannia and representatives from the King's patronages the White Ensign Association, the Royal Navy Club of 1765 and 1785, the Royal Naval Benevolent Trust and the Association of Royal Naval Officers.
The King, as Prince of Wales, was taught to fly while he was studying at Cambridge University by RAF Squadron Leader Philip Penney.
In 1971, he flew himself to RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire to train as a jet pilot, graduating later that year after receiving his wings.
The King went on to embark on his naval career, joining the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
He began as a 22-year-old acting sub-lieutenant, and was later posted to the guided missile destroyer HMS Norfolk and then to the frigates HMS Minerva and HMS Jupiter in the West Indies and the Pacific respectively.
The King returned to England to learn naval aviation, eventually earning the Double Diamond trophy as best pilot.
He rose to command minesweeper HMS Bronington before returning to royal duties.
In 2012, Elizabeth II awarded him the highest rank in all three services – Field Marshal, Admiral of the Fleet and Marshal of the Royal Air Force.
On her death in 2022, the King became the Commander-in-Chief of the UK Armed Forces and, a month later, he replaced his younger son, the Duke of Sussex, as Captain General of the Royal Marines.
In March this year, the King became the first monarch to visit a Royal Navy warship at sea in almost 40 years when he flew by helicopter to HMS Prince of Wales in the English Channel as it prepared for a major deployment to Japan.
He spoke with deep affection about his time in the Navy and described his 'enduring respect' for the service.
Meanwhile, the Queen has hailed the legacy of a literary prize that brought women's writing 'from the margins of the literary world to its very centre'.
Camilla surprised shoppers when she dropped in on a pop-up Waterstones store in London, before joining an event to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Women's Prize for Fiction.
She said the prize had 'transformed the literary landscape for women', launching careers and ensuring that bestsellers had 'flown off the shelves into the hands and hearts of the public'.
The Queen met the six authors shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction including Nussaibah Younis, whose novel Fundamentally tells the story of an academic who travels to Iraq to de-radicalise a teenage Islamic State recruit, and Yael van der Wouden, who wrote The Safekeep.
'I shall be thinking of you'
Her Majesty told Tell Me Everything writer Elizabeth Strout: 'I have read your books, they are lovely.'
'Good luck to you all,' she told the group. 'I shall be thinking of you.'
She was then introduced to the six shortlisted authors for the Women's Prize for Non-Fiction, including singer-songwriter and rapper Neneh Cherry, whose debut book, A Thousand Threads, tells the story of her career.
The Queen told Clare Mulley, whose Agent Zo tells the story of the Polish wartime resistance fighter Elzbieta Zawacka: 'I think I will put that on my holiday reading list.'
And she delighted author Chloe Dalton by telling her she had read her memoir Raising Hare about swapping the rat race for a rural life.
Author Kate Mosse, who founded the prize, said the Queen's attendance had been kept secret.
'Nobody knew, which is why people were so surprised,' she said. 'If you're going to lay on the Queen, if it's not Beyoncé, it's got to be the actual Queen.'