Queen Elizabeth II visits 'HMS Queen Elizabeth'

Monarch given tour of flagship naval vessel before it sets sail for Asia

Britain's Queen Elizabeth visited the country's new aircraft carrier on Saturday. Getty

Queen Elizabeth II visited the the Royal Navy’s flagship aircraft carrier, ahead of its maiden operational deployment.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the latest Royal Navy ship to honour the queen's Tudor forebear Queen Elizabeth I.

It is set to embark on a 28-week deployment to Asia that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted is not intended to provoke China.

The £3 billion ($4.24 billion) vessel boasts eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets on board and is scheduled to depart from Portsmouth Naval Base in southern England, accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.

The 95-year-old queen arrived by helicopter on Saturday and was greeted by the ship’s commanding officer, Capt Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group.