Princess Anne has opened the new Princess Royal Jetty in Portsmouth.

Princess Anne

Princess Anne

The 66-year-old royal made a visit to the coastal city on Monday (20.03.17) to officially name and open the berth that will become home to the Royal Navy's giant new aircraft carriers.

The Princess Royal Jetty is named as such after Anne herself, who bares the title of Princess Royal as she is the only daughter of the monarch, Queen Elizabeth.

The dockside area has been strengthened and upgraded in order to support the whopping 65,000 tonne weight of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

During her visit, Princess Anne also unveiled a plaque at Portsmouth Naval Base to commemorate the opening of the jetty, which was previously known as the Middle Ship Jetty before undergoing its redevelopment.

Princess Anne also met with some of the workers involved in the two-year refurbishment project, as well as Navy bomb disposal experts responsible for safely disposing of historic ordnance.

The need for the bomb disposal experts came after a number of World War II bombs were found in the waters below the harbour.

Over three million cubic metres of clay, sand, and gravel were moved from the sea floor as part of the dredging work carried out to deepen the harbour in preparation for the first of the new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to dock at the jetty later this year.

Commodore Jeremy Rigby, Portsmouth Naval Base Commander, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "Work continues at a pace to get our naval base ready for the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth later this year and the excitement builds as we now enter the final stages of work, testing and training ahead of her arrival."

Meanwhile, the HMS Queen Elizabeth - which is expected to cost around £3 billion to make - is being completed in Rosyth, Scotland.

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