A COUNTY Durham woman has recalled an encounter with Prince Philip which raised a smile.

Christine Mayoh, originally from Newton Aycliffe, was a lieutenant working at the Royal Navy Pay HQ in Portsmouth in 1997 when the royal yacht Britiannia - the jewel in the Queen's beloved fleet - was decommissioned.

Christine, then aged in her early 30s, and her best friend, an American lieutenant in the same department, played a small role in the ceremony.

She said: "We wangled a temporary job as glorified parking attendants at the decommissioning ceremony for the royal yacht and were allowed in the marquee afterwards where the royals roamed freely."

Christine, who now lives near Kinross in Scotland, added: ""There were loads of top brass, senior people there.

"This admiral approached Danielle (the American) grinning and asked 'how did a colonial like you manage to get in here?'.

"They chatted a bit, but she didn't recognise him and asked if he had attended many other such events recently.

"He replied 'Yes. With the missus'. Then the penny dropped with her!"