1. The Duke of Edinburgh, who also holds the title of Admiral of the Fleet, was seen to study the charts mapping their labyrinthine course through the maze of ships and the many treacherous shoals and gravel banks in the Solent.

2. In this context, we are obliged to salute David Cameron, whose incipient self–regard is currently putting clear water between his own personage and that of Benjamin Disraeli, his political forebear often credited with coining the advice "never explain, never apologise". In reality, the adage was probably given its first run–out by Lord Fisher, Admiral of the Fleet between 1'05 and 1'10, and has since been taken up by luminaries as diverse as PG Wodehouse and John Wayne, so the Tory leader has carried out something of an avian massacre with one stone in his latest bid to present himself to the electorate in high definition.