The Royal Navy flagship has arrived home following the first operational deployment of the carrier strike group (CSG) which was dogged with incidents including the loss of a £100 million fighter jet at sea.

Aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth with seven warships and a submarine set off from Portsmouth Naval Base following a visit by the Queen in May for its show-of-force voyage to the Far East.

The 65,000-tonne warship arrived back at the Hampshire port on Thursday afternoon while Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond returned earlier in the day, with Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond returning to Plymouth.

In a message to the captain and personnel, the Queen said: "I was pleased to hear of the important work you have undertaken to build relationships between the United Kingdom and more than twenty nations during your seven-month long deployment."

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