Queen Camilla beams as she hosts world champion 'Maiden' yacht crew at Clarence House

Queen Camilla looked delighted to be hosting the crew of the yacht 'Maiden' at Clarence House, her royal residence in London, as she congratulated them on their victory of the Ocean Globe Race.

The crew, alongside skipper Tracy Edwards MBE, took part in the 2023-24 Ocean Globe Race (OGR) and became the first all-female crew to ever win an around-the-world yacht race.

The race started from Cowes on the Isle of Wight last September and spanned over 27,000 nautical miles via three great Capes, with stops in South Africa, New Zealand, and Uruguay before finishing back in the UK.

This year also marks 50 years since the Whitbread Round the World Race, the inspiration behind the OGR, which rejects the use of modern technology such as computers and GPS as crews navigate using sextants and paper charts.

In the 1989/1990 race, Tracy Edwards and her crew finished second aboard the Maiden yacht, the first all-female team to take part in an around-the-world race.

In 2018 the yacht was repurposed for a world tour in order to help raise awareness and funds for female education, with Camilla and Charles, then Prince of Wales, visiting the boat alongside HRH Princess Haya.

The crew that set off last September was the most diverse professional sailing crew to ever sail around the world, with members hailing from the UK, Puerto Rico, Italy, the US, Antigua, South Africa, France, and Afghanistan.

This also makes the Maiden crew the first black female crew and first Middle Eastern female crew to race around the world, with the crew completing 153 days at sea together.

Before Maiden set sail last autumn, Queen Camilla sent them a message of good luck and encouragement: "You are all much in my thoughts today, as you cross the start line of the Ocean Globe Race for Maiden’s final race.

"I do hope that each one of you is proud to be part of such a special crew, bringing Messages of Hope to girls across the world. I wish you fair winds and following seas! - Camilla R."

There was still no sign of King Charles greeting the crew at Clarence House today, as he prepares to make his return to front-line duties following his cancer treatment.