It was one of the very rare occasions when the Queen has wept openly in public.
Wiping a tear from her eye she bade farewell to her beloved Royal Yacht Britannia during a ceremony in Portsmouth to de-commission the boat, as part of cost cutting measures by Tony Blair’s Labour government.
Nearly 20 years on the Britannia will once again take centre stage – in a clear signal of how strongly she remains in the Queen’s affections.
A giant model of the yacht - which carried the Royal Family on 968 official voyages during her years of service - is to be the centrepiece of a carnival parade being staged in central London next Sunday to celebrate her role as patron of dozens of charities and organisations.
The celebrations will see The Queen lead a walkabout along the Mall with the Duke of Edinburgh, accompanied by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry, Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
The build-up to the Patron’s Lunch has been marred by controversy over the cost of tickets.
It was revealed last month that an anonymous millionaire had bought £100,000-worth of tickets on behalf of the charities, amid claims the cost of tickets had put the event out of their reach.
But Mr Phillips mounted a robust defence of the pricing policy, pointing out that every ticket had been sold. Many of the charities have also taken advantage of being able to sell part of their allocation to raise funds.
“I’ve seen tickets being reoffered by these organisations to their benefactors and supporters at a higher price than their face value,” said Mr Phillips. “A lot of the bigger organisations have not sold on their tickets but have used them for staff and supporters and donors as a reward or as a way of saying thank you.”
And he rejected accusations of nepotism following the revelation that it is being organised for an undisclosed "set fee" by the events company, Sports and Entertainment Ltd (SEL), of which Mr Phillips is a director.
“It was my idea so why should I then go out to tender?” he said.
One thing is certain. As the Queen walks along the Mall there is likely to be more than one rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’.
“She’s heard ‘Happy Birthday’ a few times and will no doubt hear it a bit more this year,” said Mr Phillips. “It’s the way people want to show their affection to her and she is very appreciative. She’s obviously very touched.”
I just love reading stories like this one. It goes to amplify just how kind and generous HM really is towards her people. 
