On a cold wet and very windy afternoon of Wednesday 11th March 2026, I was honoured to represent the Worshipful Company of Distillers and attend a thank you reception, from HMS Queen Elizabeth to all the people and organisations that had helped her during her time at Rosyth. We were welcomed onto the very impressive ship and stood in the main hanger where her real scale and size became apparent. We were then taken on a tour of the ship, which incorporated, the main hanger, the bridge, the outer deck, the flight operations tower, the hospital, dental surgery and a number of other areas before being welcomed into the officers mess and hosted by Captain Claire Thompson OBE RN for a drinks reception.
We were treated to some lovely cocktails from Johnnie Walker and superbly hosted by the ships company. Claire took the opportunity to personally thank us all for the help and support that we had all given her and the ships company while in Scotland and for providing a fantastic training opportunity for the newly formed ships company to practice their soft diplomatic skills as they now look at the next 6 years ahead before returning to Edinburgh for maintenance. In closing she said that they would be heading south to Portsmouth in the coming weeks before returning to full operational service.
Matt Gammell
Liveryman
