British model Iris Law arrives at The Fashion Awards 2019 held at Royal Albert Hall on December 02, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

One of the largest paddle steamers afloat in Britain is the H.M.S. Royal Eagle, former peacetime excursion boat which carried passengers on pleasure jaunts from Tower Bridge to Southend, Ramscate and Margate. Commissioned two years ago as a warship of the Royal Navy, the craft has been in action 52 times against enemy aircraft. The Eagle took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk where she was dive-bombed 48 times and brought home nearly 3,000 British troops. Members of the crew cleaning the paddle boxes of H.M.S. Royal Eagle in London on January 18, 1943. (Photo by AP Photo)

A handout picture taken and released by the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) on March 25, 2024 shows humanitarian aid being airdropped over Gaza from a RAF A400M aircraft The Royal Air Force airdropped over 10 tonnes of food supplies into Gaza for the first time on Monday, as part of international efforts to provide life-saving assistance to civilians. The aid consists of water, rice, cooking oil, flour, tinned goods and baby formula. (Photo by Leah Jones/MOD/AFP Photo)

Faces adorn crosses placed in the Garden of Remembrance of some of Britain's armed forces members who have died in Afghanistan in the Garden of Remembrance outside Westminster Abbey at the official opening of the Royal British Legion's Field of Remembrance on November 5, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Alastair Grant-Pool/Getty Images)

Descending into the Marum Volcano in Vanuatu, Intrepid explorers found an unusual way of staying warm this winter by spending Christmas day on an active volcano. British climber Chris Horsley, 22, and his friends Gareth Hawken, 30, Geoff Mackley, 50, and Bradley Ambrose, 36, from Auckland, New Zealand, hiked up the Marum Volcano, Vanuatu, on the morning of the 25th. Instead of passing the day with their families, the team climbed down a 1200ft cliff to get close to a flowing lake of lava. (Photo by Bradley Ambrose/Caters News)

A Thai Buddhist monk performs a religious rite blessing elephants and mahouts to mark the National Elephant Day at the Ayutthaya Elephant Palace and Royal Kraal in the world heritage city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, 13 March 2025. The National Elephant Day has been observed annually on 13 March since 1998 when it was established by the Thai government, in an effort to protect and conserve Thai elephants, who are part of the Asian elephant family classified as an endangered species. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

Londoners walking through Potters Field Park were surprised to see a “money tree” blooming with £9820 in £10 notes, the average amount a working British family has in savings, on July 24, 2014 in London, England. The tree was planted by Sunlife to encourage the nation to start saving at least £10 a month for a brighter future. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images for SunLife)

British model and fashion designer Stella Tennant in Chanel Swimwear, collection Automne-Hiver 1995-96 at Paris Fashion Show in Paris on October 20, 1995. Stella Tennant, one of the most renowned catwalk models and cover-stars of the 1990s, has died aged 50, her family announced on December 23, 2020. “It is with great sadness we announce the sudden death of Stella Tennant on 22nd December 2020”, the statement said. (Photo by Neville Marriner/ANL/Rex Features/Shutterstock)