THE Princess Royal gave Royal approval to Taunton's UK Hydrographic Office last week as the star guest at the Admiralty Leisure stand at the London Boat Show.

She spent time at the stand finding out about the latest charts available for the small craft and leisure mariner.

The Princess Royal was particularly interested in a new chart for the River Thames and asked about future developments.

Meanwhile, HMS Endurance is currently carrying out survey work for the UKHO north of James Ross Island, in the Antarctic.

The ship is fitted with modern hydrographic equipment and the data gathered will be fed back and processed by experts at the UKHO in Taunton, who will draw it into charts for use by mariners around the world.