The Princess Royal has officially opened a jetty which will be home to the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers.

Anne unveiled a plaque at Portsmouth Naval Base at the giant berth which was formerly known as Middle Ship Jetty but which has now been named after her.

The 90-year-old jetty has been upgraded and strengthened to support the 65,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.

Anne met some of the workers involved in the two-year refurbishment, as well as Navy bomb disposal experts responsible for safely disposing of historic ordnance.

A number of Second World War bombs have been dredged up during work to deepen the harbour ahead of the arrival of the first of the new carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth, later this year.

More than three million cubic metres of clay, sand and gravel have been moved from an area the size of 200 football pitches as part of the dredging work.

Commodore Jeremy Rigby, Portsmouth Naval Base Commander, said: “Work continues at a pace to get our naval base ready for the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth later this year and the excitement builds as we now enter the final stages of work, testing and training ahead of her arrival.”

Minister for defence procurement Harriett Baldwin said: “The work on the Princess Royal Jetty is a fantastic example of how we are investing in the future of the Royal Navy and is the culmination of £100 million of infrastructure upgrades in Portsmouth in preparation for our two new aircraft carriers.

“The Queen Elizabeth-class carriers, together with our F-35 jets, will transform our ability to project power around the world.”