CORNWALL’S best-known sea shanty singers, Fisherman’s Friends, are preparing for one of the most prestigious performances of their 30-year journey after being invited to sing at the Princess of Wales’ annual Christmas carol concert at Westminster Abbey on Friday.

The Port Isaac group, rooted in the traditions of a tiny Cornish fishing village, will perform a specially requested shanty during the “Together at Christmas” service, led by Catherine, Princess of Wales.

The event celebrates the “power of love and togetherness” and will honour people across the UK who make a difference in their communities. Around 1,600 guests – each recognised for acts of kindness, volunteering or community leadership – are expected to fill the Abbey.

Fisherman’s Friends member Jon Cleave said the royal invitation came as a huge surprise.

“It’s the icing on the cake for us all, absolutely terrific,” he said. “We feel very honoured and very excited.”

The group has been rehearsing intensely since receiving the phone call last week, though the song itself remains under wraps.

The performance is the latest remarkable chapter in the band’s story, which began in a Port Isaac sitting room in 1990. Back then, a group of friends – fishermen, lifeboatmen, a coastguard and a marine engineer – gathered sing traditional Cornish songs in full voice rather than faltering after a verse and chorus. Their naturally balanced range of voices allowed them to revive the free-flowing harmonies noted in Cornish singing traditions as far back as the 1800s.

Over the decades, their repertoire of sea shanties and nautical songs has grown to nearly 200, drawing huge crowds to Port Isaac harbour, the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival and far beyond. Their rise continued after being “discovered” in 2009 while singing on the Platt, leading to national fame, hit albums and even a feature film.

Now, performing in the splendour of Westminster Abbey for the Princess of Wales, the group’s extraordinary voyage enters yet another unforgettable chapter – still anchored, as ever, in friendship, community and the unmistakable sound of Cornwall.