Calls to build replacement for Royal Yacht Britannia as a lasting tribute
BORIS JOHNSON is under pressure to sanction the construction of a £190million successor to Royal Yacht Britannia as a lasting memorial to the late Duke of Edinburgh.
MPs, Cabinet ministers, businessmen and even a former captain of Britannia are backing calls for the successor to be named HMY The Duke of Edinburgh, as a sister vessel to the aircraft carriers the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales.
One Cabinet minister said that the yacht could form a major part of the Prime Minister’s ambitious ship-building programme set out last autumn.
A new royal yacht would be an apt tribute to the Duke who held the position of Lord High Admiral between 2011 and his death on Friday, and who played a key role in the commissioning and design of the previous vessel.
Any announcement could be tied to the Queen’s diamond jubilee next year, the minister said, adding: “A ship would be a very fitting way of commemorating him.” Political support could increase if the Government stressed the royal yacht would double as a hospital ship or a training vessel for young people. The minister said: “Britannia was built to be a hospital ship as well as a royal yacht. Building a vast pleasure cruiser is not something that anyone is going to support.
“But having a symbol of the nation that can travel the world, be used by the Royal family and have another sensible purpose such as helping young people, is a better scheme.
“It could also be a flagship for reinvigorated British shipbuilding.”
The old royal yacht was retired in December 1997 and is now berthed at Edinburgh where it is one of the UK’s most popular tourist attractions.
A secret naval design for a £100million replacement for Britannia – worth £190 million in today’s money – was drawn up by naval staff at the time and approved by representatives of the Royal family, but the Labour government refused to pay for it.
The Duke – who travelled 70,000 miles on the ship – said in the foreword to the yacht’s 310-page official history in 2003, that the decision to decommission Britannia and not replace it “signalled the end of an unbroken succession of royal yachts dating back to the reign of King Charles II”.
No10 sources gave the idea a cautious welcome saying it was a “nice idea” but would have to consider the country’s wider shipbuilding plans first.
Tory MPs backed the plans. Craig Mackinlay, who has been co-ordinating a Westminster group backing plans for a new yacht, said: “The towering figure that was the Duke of Edinburgh deserves a permanent tribute to his support for the country, the Commonwealth and the Queen.
“I can think of nothing better than a replacement for Royal Yacht Britannia bearing his name as the permanent memorial to his love of Commonwealth, Britain and the sea, reflecting his naval roots.”
Jake Berry, the chairman of the Northern Research Group of Conservative MPs, said: “The Duke of Edinburgh was a man of our time and so closely associated with the sea. He was well known for his love of Britannia – it is a fitting tribute to now create a new royal yacht named the Duke of Edinburgh in his memory and for the Queen.”
Commander Anthony Morrow, the yacht’s last captain, told The Sunday Telegraph it was a “wonderful asset” to the nation. He added: “When we are thinking beyond where we are now with the sad news of the loss of His Royal Highness, to have continuation of a royal yacht in support of the UK would be very special.”
Ian Maiden, a millionaire businessman calling for a new yacht to connect the UK to Commonwealth nations after Brexit, also welcomed the idea. Three years ago The Telegraph disclosed that the Duke had privately prepared plans for a new Royal Yacht Britannia and told friends it should be used as a training vessel for apprentices.