Kate Middleton and Prince William officially name Boaty McBoatface after Sir David Attenborough with champagne celebration in Merseyside
KATE Middleton and Prince William beamed today as they arrived to name a polar research vessel dubbed Boaty McBoat Face by the public.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined Sir David Attenborough for the ceremony in Birkenhead, Merseyside.
The vessel will officially be named RSS Sir David Attenborough after the public’s vote was vetoed.
Instead a submarine on board will be named Boaty McBoatface.
Kate, 37, will smash a bottle of champagne against the hull as she officially christens the vessel.
Sir David and Prince William, 37, will then deliver speeches at the naming ceremony, as they tour the new ship.
Today’s event comes after Buckingham Palace announced Princess Beatrice was engaged to her multi-millionaire property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
The vessel is owned by the Environment Research Council (NERC) and operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and will explore the Arctic and Antarctica for the next 25 to 30 years.
Prince William and Sir David have met before, with the dad-of-three interviewing the naturalist at the World Economic Forum in January, and he also attended the premiere of Sir David’s Netflix series, Our Planet, alongside Prince Charles and Prince Harry in April.
The ship was named after the 93-year-old despite a public poll voting for another title for the vessel.
Boaty McBoatface came out as the most popular name for the state-of-the-art ship, but this was turned down in favour of the naturalist.
Instead a submarine on board will be named Boaty McBoatface.
The vessel is owned by the Environment Research Council (NERC) and operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), and will explore the Arctic and Antarctica for the next 25 to 30 years.
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This is the first official engagement for the Cambridges this autumn, after stepping out to take Princess Charlotte, four, to her first day of school earlier this month.
Along with Prince George, six, Kate Middleton and Prince William took their two eldest to school in St Thomas’, Battersea.
The mum-of-three missed Prince George’s first day of school as she was suffering from severe morning sickness while pregnant with Prince Louis.
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