In 1902, the band accompanied King Edward VII on a cruise aboard His Majesty’s Yacht Victoria and Albert. The following year, the band was permanently appointed for musical duties aboard the Royal Yacht, a privileged duty they performed until the decommissioning of Her Majesty the Queen’s Yacht Britannia in 1997. Following this, The Queen agreed that the band should continue their royal duties. Their special badge bearing the words ‘Royal Yacht’ was altered to read ‘Royal Band’ and is still proudly worn on the right shoulder of every member of the Portsmouth band.

In recent years, the band have performed for many engagements including The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympic Games in 2012, the Rugby World Cup opening ceremony in 2015, The Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations at Windsor Castle in 2016 and the NFL London game at Twickenham Stadium in 2017.

Meanwhile, this year’s Guard of Honour will be formed of personnel drawn from the Royal Navy State Ceremonial Training Section.

The President of Tynwald, the Hon Steve Rodan MLC said: ‘Tynwald Day at St John’s is a day of tradition, pageantry and celebration, but it also provides an opportunity to look to the future and, on this occasion, to explore how we can protect the environment of our Island for the generations who follow. To this end, and in line with the government’s aim to reduce volumes of single single-use plastic, stallholders on the Fair Field will be required to supply and use only recyclable containers and other items.