Queen Camilla was appointed Vice Admiral of the United Kingdom on 16 July during a visit to HM Naval Base Devonport in Plymouth, becoming the first woman in the Royal Family to hold the centuries-old honorary naval rank. Rear Admiral Andy Perks presented the Queen with a burgee symbolising the position, an elevation welcomed by First Sea Lord Gen. Sir Gwyn Jenkins as a "tremendous boost" to Royal Navy morale. The ceremony coincided with the formal end of HMS Astute’s first commission, a 15-year period that included 357 harbour entries and recent patrols in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. As the submarine’s Lady Sponsor since 2007, Camilla inspected a guard of honour and addressed crew members and their families, warning that software upgrades and new weaponry will bring a "steep learning curve" when the boat returns to service after a multi-million-pound Mid-Life Revalidation Programme. Marking her 78th birthday, the crew presented the Queen with an engraved clingfilm dispenser—an inside joke recalling an improvised repair that kept the vessel at sea. The visit underscored the monarch’s broader naval ties; she also sponsors the aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales and serves as Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Navy Medical Service and Naval Chaplaincy Services.