A New Royal Yacht For The Queen?

The British government is set to commission a new royal yacht named after Prince Philip, following the decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997. The new yacht, estimated to cost £200m, will be funded by the Ministry of Defences budget. The designer of Cunard liner Queen Mary 2, Stephen Payne, has drawn up plans for the £200m royal yacht to promote British trade, tourism, youth, and culture. The government spent almost £2.5m on commissioning the project before scrapping it.

The surprise announcement came in a statement from 10 Downing Street. The new yacht will be named after Prince Philip and will be operational by 2026. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that a new royal yacht will be operational by 2026, with design plans due to be released around the same time.

The Royal Family in the UK are often used by governments as a tool, so the yacht was considered a national asset rather than the Queen’s. The British Government has scrapped plans to build a national flagship yacht estimated to cost up to £250 million. The announcement comes amid concerns about the lack of a royal yacht for the royal family for almost 25 years.

What happened to the new royal yacht?

The plan to build new National Flagship, what many refer to as a new ‘Royal Yacht’, has now been scrapped.. Th vessel was going to be named after the late Prince Philip.

Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace told MPs today that he would instead prioritise the procurement of the Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ships (MROSS) instead of the flagship.

“In the face of the Russian illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and (Vladimir) Putin’s reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order, it is right that we prioritise delivering capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure,” he told Parliament.

How big is the new royal yacht?

The christening of The Royal Yacht Britannia serves as a cheeky season opener toThe Crown. Black-and-white Pathé News–style footage shows a soon-to-be-crowned Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) cheered on by shipbuilders as she launches her new 412-foot yacht. “I hope that this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant. Capable of weathering any storm,” she says about the royal replacement for theVictoria and Albert III. By the series’ season finale, set 44 years later, both the sovereign and the floating palace she christenedBritannia will have hit rough seas—the cost of repairing the creaky old vessel and the modern role of the monarchy both in question. Ultimately, the yacht that undertook 968 official voyages all over the world, hosting dignitaries—including 13 US presidents—at receptions and banquets, was dry-docked near Edinburgh, Scotland, where it continues to be a popular tourist attraction. Here are some of the most buoyant facts about the palace the Queen famously said was “the one place where I can truly relax.”

The sun room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1981.

Do the royals have a new yacht?

Often referred to as the last royal yacht, the Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, and despite some efforts, there are no signs of a new one in the near future. Though its seafaring days may be behind it (the ship now serves as a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland), the Britannia remains an important artifact and a peek behind the curtain of royal life—it even garnered a prominent place in the fifth season of The Crown. Below, a few of its most notable moments throughout history.

It was the first royal yacht designed for ocean travel.. The ship was built by John Brown & Co at the same shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland in the same location the famous ocean liners the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were constructed. With 12,000 horsepower, the ship could travel at a maximum 22.5 knots (approximately 25 miles per hour), ideal for ocean-going diplomacy. Prior to its launch in 1953, the royal family used ships from the Royal Navy or even passenger liners for the overseas portions of the royal tour.

In its 44 years of service, the HMY Britannia traveled around 1.1 million miles.

Does the king still have a royal yacht?

Since 1998, following a successful national tender process, Britannia has been berthed permanently at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh. There are currently no British royal yachts, although MV Hebridean Princess and MY Leander G have both been used by the royal family.

Data about launch years from Royal Yachts of the World by Tim Madge.

• Mary (1660–1675)
• Royal Escape (dates unknown)
• Anne (1661–unknown)
• Bezan (1661–unknown)
• Katherine (first ship of that name) (1661–unknown): built by Phineas Pett
• Minion (dates unknown)
• Charles (first ship of that name) (1662–unknown)
• Jamie or Jemmy (1662–unknown)
• Henrietta (first ship of that name) (1663–unknown)
• Merlin* (1666–unknown)
• Monmouth (1666–unknown)
• Navy (1666–unknown)
• Saudadoes (1670–unknown)
• Cleveland (1671–unknown)
• Queenborough (first ship of that name) (1671–unknown)
• Deale (1673–unknown)
• Isle of Wight (1673–unknown)
• Kitchen (1670–unknown)
• Katherine (second ship of that name) (1674–unknown)
• Portsmouth (first ship of that name) (1674–unknown)
• Charles (second ship of that name) (1675–unknown); Charlot (1677–unknown); Mary (second ship of that name) (1677–unknown); Henrietta (second ship of that name) (1679–unknown); Izabella Bezan (1680–unknown); Fubbs (1682–unknown); Isabella (first ship of that name) (1680–unknown); William & Mary (first ship of that name) (1694–unknown); Squirrel (1694–unknown); Scout (1695–unknown); Queenborough (second ship of that name) (1701–unknown); Soesdyke (1702–unknown); Portsmouth (second ship of that name) (1702–unknown); Isabella (1703–unknown); Drake (1705–unknown)

Why did they get rid of the royal yacht?

By the 1990s, Britannia was already suffering. After more than 40 years of service, the elements had taken a toll on her.

On the basis of finance, the decision to decommission HMY Britannia had also been on the cards for some time, and by 1994, the public purse was no longer available for the Royal yacht’s upkeep.

During this stretch, a replacement ship was announced, although everyone knew that it was unlikely to happen. With the general elections of 1997 fast approaching, Britannia’s expensive existence once again hit the headlines. Dragging the ship into a game of political point-scoring apparently infuriated Her Majesty.

In a bid to regain public favour, the Conservatives performed a U-turn on replacing the Royal yacht and claimed they would not spend public money on something so frivolous. However, when Tony Blair’s Labour government won a landslide election, Britannia’s fate was sealed.

Why did the Queen retire her yacht?

A further refit at an estimated cost of some £17 million would be necessary in 1996–97 but would only prolong her life for a further five years. In view of her age, even after the refit she would be difficult to maintain and expensive to run. It has therefore been decided to decommission ‘Britannia’ in 1997.

In looking back at the history of Royal Yacht Britannia, one can trace the emotional journey of Queen Elizabeth II. Her affection for the vessel stemmed from deep-rooted sentiment, making HMY Britannia’s retirement remarkably personal.

June 23, 1994, was a dark day for Queen Elizabeth II.

While public perception of Her Majesty’s lifestyle revolved around lavish wealth and exclusive travel, of which money was no object, that generalised consensus remained far from the truth.

Have the Royals got a yacht?

The United Kingdom has had 83 royal yachts since the restoration of Charles II of England in 1660. Charles II himself had 25 royal yachts, while five were simultaneously in service in 1831. Since the decommissioning of Britannia in 1997 the British monarchy no longer has a royal yacht.

The Principality of Monaco owned the princely yacht Deo Juvante II between 1956–1958. This Camper and Nicholsons yacht was a wedding gift from Aristotle Onassis to Prince Rainer and Grace Kelly and was used on their honeymoon. The yacht, now called M/Y Grace, is now owned and operated by Quasar Expeditions.

Yugoslavia had some royal yachts before World War II (most notably, one was a sister ship of Ilinden which sank in Lake Ohrid in 2009).

Has a new royal yacht been commissioned?

The government sunk almost £2.5m into commissioning a new royal yacht before scuppering the project, Sky News can reveal.

Figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request found the Ministry of Defence (MoD) splashed £2,476,000 on the vessel, a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Announced in May 2021 by Boris Johnson and set to be named after the Duke of Edinburgh, the plans were cut adrift last month.

Does the crown have a royal yacht?

Fans of the Netflix drama series The Crown who waded into season five last fall noted scenes meant to be aboard the former royal yacht Britannia.

How much is the royal yacht worth?

Boris Johnson wants to build a new, $278 million royal yacht named after Prince Philip, stoking an ongoing debate about cost and optics. From 1953 to 1997, the Royal Family sailed around the world on the Royal Yacht Britannia. To the dismay of the Queen, Parliament decommissioned the yacht in 1997, citing upkeep costs.

For 44 years, the Royal Yacht Britannia took the Royal Family on tours and vacations around the world.

Built in 1954, the five-story yacht became known as the Queen’s “floating palace” and had a full-time staff of more than 240 yachtsmen and officers.

The Queen is known to have said that it is the one place where she could “truly relax.”

How much would a new royal yacht cost?

Building the ship, set to launch by the end of 2024, would have cost in the region of £250m.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs that he was instead prioritising the development of a new Navy surveillance ship, adding: “In the face of the Russian illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order, it is right that we prioritise delivering capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure.”

The Government has already spent £2.5m of taxpayers’ money on the project, which will now have gone to waste. Much of this was spent on employing a team of officials from the Ministry of Defence.

Who bought the Queen’s yacht?

HMY BritanniaHistoryUnited KingdomNameBritanniaOwnerThe Royal Yacht Britannia TrustOrdered5 February 1952.

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Britannia.

Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia is the former royal yacht of the British monarchy. She was in their service from 1954 until 1997. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893. During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the world to more than 600 ports in 135 countries. Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland, where it is a visitor attraction with over 300,000 visits each year.

HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire. She was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953, and commissioned on 11 January 1954. The ship was designed with three masts: a 133-foot (41m) foremast, a 139-foot (42m) mainmast, and a 118-foot (36m) mizzenmast. The top aerial on the foremast and the top 20 feet (6.1m) of the mainmast were hinged to allow the ship to pass under bridges.