FORMER seaman Tom McCallion has received a right royal invitation.

Tom (66) and his wife Maureen (64), of Beechfield Drive, Bury will be rubbing shoulders with senior members of the royal family, including the Queen and Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward.

But Tom's no stranger to being in such high company having served on the Royal Yacht Britannia for six years in the 1960s.

Since then he's been invited to a host of royal parties, but this one -- being held at St James's Palace this week to mark the 50th anniversary of the launching of Britannia -- is the biggest yet.

Tom says: "It's always an honour to be invited to these occasions. The Royal family have been very good and hold regular reunions for people who served on the Royal Yacht. "

Tom began his sea-going career when he joined the Navy in 1953. Eight years later he applied to be posted on Britannia -- he started washing Prince Philip's shirts in the laundry before moving on to the telephone exchange.

He said: "For the first couple of months I felt a bit nervous but things were operated so specifically and smoothly that it quickly became routine."

He travelled all over the world and met many foreign royals and presidents. "It was a case of work hard, play hard, but we were allowed shore leave so I certainly got to see some fascinating places. As Royal Yachtsmen we got invited to a lot of parties on shore so, in a way, we were ambassadors for our country," added Tom.

Now retired, Tom gives talks to local groups about his time on board.

The Royal Yacht was retired in 1997 and is now moored as a tourist attraction at Leith near Edinburgh - the town where Tom was born.