King Charles pictured as pressure grows to ban Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson from royal life

The Agamemnon Ship’s Company marked King Charles’s arrival with a Royal Salute.

Afterwards, HMS Agamemnon’s Commanding Officer, Commander David Crosby, presented the Secretary of State for Defence, the Chief of Defence Nuclear, the First Sea Lord and the CEO of BAE Systems.

The King then read the Commissioning Warrant, to mark the submarine entering operational service and recognise the work of those who built it and staff and support it.

The Commissioning Ceremony concluded with the raising of a White Ensign, the official standard of the Royal Navy.

After the ceremony, King Charles had the opportunity to meet BAE employees involved in the construction of HMS Agamemnon, as well as the boat’s serving personnel and their families.

The King's outing comes as senior royal figures are thought to be frustrated after emails from Sarah Ferguson to Jeffrey Epstein surfaced.

The messages, written in 2011 after Mr Epstein’s release from jail for child sex offences, showed her apologising for publicly cutting ties with her “supreme friend” to protect her career as a children’s author.

In the email, Fergie said: “Sometimes the heart speaks better than the words. You have my heart. With lots of love, dear Jeffrey.”

She added that she had been “instructed to act with the utmost speed if I would have any chance of holding on to my career as a children’s book author and a children’s philanthropist”.

The Duchess also wrote: “I know you feel hellaciously let down by me from what you were either told or read and I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that,” and assured him: “As you know, I did not, absolutely not, say the ‘P word’ [paedophile] about you but understand it was reported that I did.”

The private message was sent just weeks after Sarah publicly told the Evening Standard: “I will never have anything to do with [Epstein] again,” and branded her acceptance of £15,000 from him to settle debts “a gigantic error of judgment”.

US investigators are also believed to have a “cache” of emails between Andrew and Epstein that could prove “even more explosive” than Sarah's, adding to royal concerns.

The emails between Fergie and Mr Epstein were exchanged after he served 13 months of an 18-month sentence for soliciting prostitution from minors.

A spokesman for the Duchess told GB News: “The Duchess spoke of her regret about her association with Epstein many years ago, and as they have always been her first thoughts are with his victims.Like many people, she was taken in by his lies.

“As soon as she was aware of the extent of the allegations against him, she not only cut off contact but condemned him publicly, to the extent that he then threatened to sue her for defamation for associating him with paedophilia.

“She does not resile from anything she said then. This email was sent in the context of advice the Duchess was given to try to assuage Epstein and his threats.”

The revelations reignite scrutiny of the Yorks’ presence at royal gatherings. Sarah was long considered “persona non grata” during Prince Philip’s lifetime, but both the late Queen and now King Charles have allowed her to join family events such as Christmas at Sandringham and Easter at Windsor Castle.

That tolerance may now end. A source told the Mail there is “real fear” of further damaging disclosures and warned: “It is about the last sanction he may be able to take,” if the King chooses to bar the Yorks from private occasions.