The Queen received a birthday gift that helped keep a nuclear-powered submarine at sea when all else failed - clingfilm. Camilla's 78th birthday, celebrated on Thursday, was marked with the presentation of a clingfilm holder from Commander Chris Bate whose crew used the household item to fix a defect in the main engines of his submarine HMS Astute.
"There's nothing more useful, brilliant how wonderful," said the royal guest about the present which had a small plaque with the words "Clingfilm keeping nuclear submarines at sea".
Queen's naval connection strengthens
The Queen is HMS Astute's Lady Sponsor and has developed a strong bond with the crew and wider navy that saw her made a Vice Admiral when she visited Devonport naval base in Plymouth to meet its submariners. She boarded the vessel's huge hull as the first phase of its working life over almost 20 years came to an end, and met eight of its past commanders who stood close to the turret.
Later in a garden party speech to the crew and their families, she looked forward to the submarine's return to service after a four-year refit and warned with the "global tectonics shifting unpredictably" she may return into an "unfamiliar world". But said this was a "challenge that I know will be taken on with her usual tenacity".
Crew's ingenuity praised
She referenced the ingenuity of the crew "from the innovation of one petty officer to code cutting edge long-range communications software, through to the resourceful solution to maintain a vacuum, in the middle of the Indian Ocean, with clingfilm!" The Queen concluded with characteristic humour: "I can only imagine what the unofficial toolkit in a submarine might look like."
(PA) Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
