'THE PLEASURE of your company' is a phrase so often used that we rarely listen to the words themselves; but when members of the royal family honour the lifeboat service with their company everyone knows the days will not only be memorable but will also be overflowing with enjoyment. During the summer of 1975 there have been four royal naming ceremonies, at Whitby, Jersey, Plymouth and Torbay, as well as visits by the Institution's president, HRH The Duke of Kent, to Birmingham and to stations in Norfolk and Wales.

Happy days, all of them, warmed by the gentle smile of HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, brightened by the infectious gaiety and charm of HRH The Duchess of Kent, stimulated by the keen personal interest in both people and boats always shown by the Duke of Kent. Here is a president so abounding in enthusiasm that he is always ready for an unscheduled look over a lifeboat or an extended conversation with crew members and their wives, with officials of branch and guild; and he always seems to find time to stop and talk to children, obviously delighting in these encounters as much as do they.

Writing after the president's 'walkabout' visit to Norfolk stations on June 4, the honorary secretary of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society, Cromer and District Research Group, Frank Muirhead, said, 'The whole event was very relaxed and informal, and 1 thinkus members of Cromer ILB look upon the Duke of Kent as a friend; he gave that impression. We look forward to meeting him again. Perhaps he would join one of our dart nights?' It was the pleasure of the various stations to give their royal visitors impromptu gifts as well as more formal mementoes: newly published station histories at Barmouth and Jersey; abasket of lobsters and crabs at Sheringham; an RNLI 150th anniversary mug made at nearby Holkham Pottery at Wells; and at Plymouth a salmon.

There were delightful surprise gestures from the Duchess of Kent as well: at Plymouth and Torbay, Debbie Mac- Manus and Susanne Gibbs, the small daughters of crew members, were each given a rose from the bouquets they had presented to Her Royal Highness.

The summer's royal events began on May 7 when the Duke of Kent visited Birmingham, spending half-an-hour with the lifeboat people of the city.

Accompanied by Philip Clarke, Committee of Management, Captain Nigel Dixon, RN, the director, and Alderman G. H. W. Griffith, president of Birmingham branch, he spoke to a large number of the 160 members present andcongratulated them on the great support Birmingham and the surrounding areas give the Institution. It was an informal and most happy ocasion.

Next, on May 21, came the naming by the Duchess of Kent of Whitby's new 44' lifeboat The White Rose of Yorkshire. The Marquis of Normanby, president of Whitby station branch, opened the proceedings by inviting the Duchess to present a framed photograph to the donor, Miss G. M. G. Milburn, a Yorkshire resident who up to that time had remained anonymous. The boat, delivered to the Whitby branch by Commander F. R. H. Swann, then chairman of the Institution, was accepted by the honorary secretary, Captain David Stevenson.

On May 30, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother named Jersey's new Waveney lifeboat Thomas James King after ex-Coxswain Tommy King, nowin his ninetieth year; in 1949 he was awarded the gold medal for gallantry for the rescue on September 13 of the yacht Maurice Georges and her crew of four; the yacht was being driven on to a rocky lee shore by gale force winds. The cost of Thomas James King was raised entirely in Jersey by a special appeal initiated and personally directed by Jurat R. E. Bailhache, chairman of the Jersey branch.

Returning to Portsmouth in the royal yacht on June 1, The Queen Mother disembarked at HMS Vernon, Portsmouth, just as the lifeboat people of Hampshire were gathering for the handing over to the RNLI by Sir Alec Rose of Hampshire Rose, the Rotherclass lifeboat now stationed at Walmer, for which they had raised £67,000. Sir Alec, officials of the appeal committee and members of the lifeboat's crew were presented to Her Majesty.

Three days later the Duke of Kent was in Norfolk for his visit to Wells, Sheringham, Cromer and Happisburgh.

At Sheringham the president took everyone by surprise by asking to look over the lifeboat, The Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows. There were shouts of 'Joyful!', a ladder was set up and Coxswain Henry 'Joyful' West took the Duke aboard and showed him round; when they came to the engine room, however, 'Joyful' insisted that Motor Mechanic Brian Pegg should take charge, as that was his domain.

On June 17 both the Duke and Duchess of Kent went to the West Country, each to perform a namingceremony. First, in the morning, the Duchess named Plymouth's new Waveney lifeboat Thomas Forehead and Mary Rowse II, gifted by a legacy of Thomas Field of Liverpool. They then went on to Brixham for the afternoon, where the Duke named the new Arun class lifeboat Edward Bridges. She is the 37th boat provided and maintained by theCivil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund in 109 years of loyal support. The Torbay boat was named after the late Baron Bridges who had a distinguished career in the Civil Service. His son, Lord Bridges, handed over the lifeboat to the RNLI, and the Dowager Lady Bridges, widow of Baron Bridges, was also present.The Duke of Kent ended his summer's RNLI engagements on July 21 with a visit to two Welsh ILB stations, Aberdovey and Barmouth, accompanied by Raymond Cory, Committee of Management, and Captain Dixon. At Aberdovey the station's new Atlantic 21, Guide Friendship I, gave a demonstration, and the Duke spoke to representatives of the Guides and Brownies who, through the Guide Friendship Fund, had defrayed her cost. At Barmouth he met the first three ILB crew members to be awarded the silver medal for gallantry, in 1971, and at both stations there was time for conversation with crew members and their wives and with the officials of the branches and guilds.

Thus, as the days began to draw in, lifeboat people could look back on a wonderful summer; a summer when the sun had shone almost every day; and a summer highlighted with right royal occasions..