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Royal yacht: Why Britannia will definitely cost more than £200m to build

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Boris Johnson has confirmed that there is to be a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia using new green technology.

The surprise announcement came in a statement from 10 Downing Street at the end of May. Rather than purely serving the British Royal Family, however, this new vessel will be a national ship rather than a private yacht – a floating embassy that will be operated by the Royal Navy.

The idea is that the new royal yacht will support working royals and government departments alike, while furthering the nation’s interests abroad, both commercial and strategic.

“Every aspect of this ship, from its build to the businesses it showcases, will represent and promote the best of British,” said Johnson, “a clear and powerful symbol of our commitment to be an active player on the world stage. It will be the first vessel of its kind in the world.”

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Following appropriate consultations with the Royal Family, the Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence, Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Treasury, the Government will put the design and construction out to tender. If all goes to plan the build could start as early as next year with a view to entering service by 2024.

Some critics had suggested that World Trade Organisation obligations would mean the tendering process would have to be open to overseas yards as well as British ones, but the fact it will be operated by the Royal Navy gives it ‘warship’ status and therefore renders her exempt.

Various sources have quoted ballpark figures of £200 million to build the new Royal Yacht Britannia but once a working specification has been drawn up for a suitably large yacht MBY expects this to rise considerably.

Superyacht designer Andrew Winch’s proposal was for a much larger craft

Everything will depend on how much space is needed for conferencing and entertainment areas as well as the number of staterooms, guest cabins and crew, not to mention helicopter and tenders, and the high levels of security needed to protect her passengers and guests.

How much will the new royal yacht cost?

So exactly how big will the new yacht be? Length is not the key metric for superyachts ; usable volume measured in gross tonnage is the name of the game.

£200 million sounds a lot and could buy an impressive 280ft (86m) quad-deck superyacht with a volume of around 2,500GT from a superyacht yard, but a ship of that length is unlikely to be big enough.

The old Britannia measured 421ft and 5,769GT. The Royal Navy is unlikely to spend less than £100,000 per tonne today for such a vessel and will probably end up spending a significant amount more given that this would be a full-custom project. We suspect the final bill for New Britannia is likely to be more like £600 million.

The New Flagship Company also produced this rendering to try and win private backing for a Britannia replacement

This isn’t the first time a new royal yacht has been mooted. Businessman Ian Maiden launched the New Flagship Company in 2001 to try and garner private backing for a similar national ship to promote the UK and Commonwealth’s business interests. Superyacht designer Andrew Winch also drafted plans for a new royal megayacht.

As far as we know neither of these designs have been adopted by Number 10, which released its own uncredited rendering of what the new Royal Yacht Britannia might look like . One man that has had a bigger hand than most is Craig Mackinlay, Conservative MP for South Thanet, who recently led a cross-party campaign supported by no fewer than 70 MPs.

Mackinlay is a lifelong sailor and the commodore of the House of Commons Yacht Club, and his most recent submission seems to have influenced the government’s statement. Some have suggested that an alternative to a brand-new yacht could be a keel-up rebuild of the old Royal Yacht Britannia , which is now lying alongside in Leith, Edinburgh.

Winch’s design was first proposed in 2016

She was formally retired in 1997 after 44 years of service and over 1 million nautical miles. Until recently she has been open to the public. Any new Royal Yacht Britannia is expected to have a service life of at least 30 years.

The expert view

“The debate about how or even whether to replace the Royal Yacht Britannia has been gong on for as long as I’ve been editor and seems to crop up every few years when there’s no real news to talk about,” says MBY editor Hugo Andreae.

“But this time it’s different, this time it’s government policy – at least until Boris changes his mind, which has been known to happen!

“I sincerely hope he doesn’t because a new Royal Yacht Britannia really could invigorate British ship building and cast fresh light on the amazing leisure boat industry we do still have.

“But if we’re going to do it, please don’t skimp on the budget. We don’t want Britannia being overshadowed by a tasteless megayacht belonging to some shady despot!”

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A New Royal Yacht Is Coming

• By Phil Draper
• January 7, 2022

There are yachts, and there are superyachts, but royal yachts tend to be something else again. The United Kingdom hasn’t had a royal yacht for almost 25 years, but the British government just announced its intention to replace Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia .

No firm details have been released of what this replacement could be, but design proposals were recently invited. Time is of the essence, given that the official policy statement came with a proposed launch date just three years away.

The open brief suggests that what is needed now is less yacht, more national ship—a world-first build. Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he sees the vessel as more of a floating embassy to support royals and government ministers alike.

That concept is broadly familiar. During its 44-year service life as a ship of state, Britannia racked up more than 1 million nautical miles and 696 foreign visits. Every itinerary was about promoting the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, and trade promotion was always a part of the job description. For instance, Britannia made several trips to the United States, including both coasts and Chicago via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Various presidents and their wives were guests aboard, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

But what defines a royal yacht?

It’s not just about scale, although the eight-deck, all-steel Britannia was one of the biggest yachts in the world when it launched. It was built at Scotland’s John Brown and Co. of Clydebank, the same yard that built the ocean liners RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary . Britannia entered service in January 1954, one year after Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. Her late husband, Prince Philip, was a former naval officer and enthusiastically oversaw Britannia’s specification and construction.

The yacht, beyond its routine duties, could rapidly convert to a 200-bed hospital ship or an offshore refuge for the royal family in case of nuclear war. Britannia is 412 feet length overall, has a 55-foot beam and measures 5,862 gross tons. Thanks to two turbine sets producing up to 12,000 hp, Britannia was capable of a continuous 21 knots throughout its service years.

Those were the days when a yacht of that size was unusual: There are now almost 30 giga-yachts afloat with more gross tonnage than Britannia . Only a quarter of them have any obvious royal affiliations.

But in its day, Britannia was an operation to behold. The yacht was home to 21 officers and 256 sailors of the British Royal Navy and could host functions with 250 guests. The staterooms and staff quarters were aft, and the crew were forward. The yacht’s complement included a Royal Marines guard detachment in separate onboard barracks, a 26-strong military band, and a full general surgery team with an operating theater. The permanent noncommissioned crew were known affectionately as the “yotties.”

Britannia was where the most senior members of the royal family stayed when on suitable official visits. It was not where they would normally spend vacations, although Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously used Britannia for a honeymoon cruise in the Mediterranean. They had the yacht’s only double bed installed aboard.

As for Britannia’s successor, various sources have quoted ballpark figures for the build in the low hundreds of millions of dollars. The final specification will depend on how much space is practical for conference and entertainment areas, the number of guest staterooms, the crew complement, helicopter use, tenders, provisions, technology, and security. Johnson also says he wants the vessel to incorporate cutting-edge green technologies and showcase best practices with regard to sustainability.

The new yacht is expected to have a service life of at least 30 years. Given that trillions of dollars’ worth of trade deals were reportedly secured aboard Britannia , the cost for that lifespan is not expected to be a concern.

Construction could start as early as next year, following consultations with the royal family, the Royal Navy and various government departments. The vessel will officially be the responsibility of the Ministry of Defense and classified as if it were a warship.

Floating History

Now retired, royal yacht Britannia lies permanently in Edinburgh, Scotland. This vessel has been one of the Scottish capital’s most popular tourist draws for more than 25 years. It is open daily and sees more than 1,000 visitors a day. Guided tours take in all areas, including a view into the queen’s bedroom, private sitting rooms, state dining room and drawing rooms, sun lounge and veranda, bridge, crew decks, and engine room.

The First Royal Yacht

The wooden wheel aboard Britannia came from the only other royal yacht to bear the name, the much older 122-foot gaff-rigged cutter Britannia . Built for Prince Albert Edward, who later became King Edward VII, it was famously campaigned at big-boat

regattas by him and his son, King George V. The yacht launched in spring 1893 and was a near-sister to Valkyrie II , which unsuccessfully challenged the Nathanael Greene Herreshoff-built Vigilant for the America’s Cup that same year. Both Valkyrie II and Britannia

were designed by George Lennox Watson and built at the D&W Henderson Shipyard in Scotland. Following George V’s death and per his wishes, the vessel was stripped of its spars and fitting, and scuttled in deep water off England’s South Coast on July 10, 1936.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia Has a Fascinating History—Here's Everything You Should Know

It doesn't get more majestic than Queen Elizabeth II's yacht.

Seventy years ago, the Britannia began its journey as the royal yacht for Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family of the United Kingdom. Over the next 44 years she’d travel more than a million nautical miles and, in all her glamour and old world elegance, served as a residence that welcomed state visits from all over the world and family holidays alike. Then and now, she was and is a majestic symbol of the British Commonwealth and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II .

“Britannia is special for a number of reasons,” Prince Phillip once said. “Almost every previous sovereign has been responsible for building a church, a castle, a palace or just a house. The only comparable structure in the present reign is Britannia. As such she is a splendid example of contemporary British design and technology.”

Although she retired from service in 1997, today the Britannia, one of many of the world's grandest yachts , is docked in Edinburgh, where she is open as a visitors’ attraction and host of private events. Below we give you all the Royal Yacht Britannia facts you might want to know, from who owns the yacht now to why she was decommissioned to how fast she is to how to get tickets to visit. Britannia was, after all, the one place the queen said she could “truly relax,” so why not see why for yourself?

Royal Yacht Britania Facts and History

On February 4, 1952, John Brown & Co shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, received the order from the Admiralty to build a new Royal Yacht to travel the globe and double as a hospital ship in times of war, according to the royal yacht's website . King George VI passed away two days after, sadly, and so on April 16, 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II announced the yacht’s new name as the ship was revealed.

"I name this ship Britannia,” she said. “I wish success to her and all who sail in her." Britannia was commissioned into the Royal Navy in January 1954 and by April of that year sailed into her first overseas port: Grand Harbour, Malta.

The queen and The Duke of Edinburgh worked with interior designer Sir Hugh Casson for the ship to serve as both a functional Royal Navy vessel and an elegant royal residence. Queen Elizabeth II selected deep blue for Britannia’s hull, instead of the more traditional black. Its Naval crew included 220 Yachtsmen, 20 officers, and three season officers—plus a Royal Marines Band of 26 men during Royal Tours.

All of them might have had to change uniform up to six times a day, so the laundry service on board worked nonstop. The yacht also engaged in British overseas trade missions known as Sea Days and made an estimated £3 billion for the Exchequer between 1991 and 1995 alone.

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, also named Britannia, according to Boat International , and the 126-meter ship could reach speeds of 22.75 knots, or a seagoing cruising speed of 21 knots, according to Super Yacht Times . Other fun facts: The yacht could produce her own fresh water from sea water, and shouting was forbidden aboard to preserve tranquility, favoring hand signals for Naval orders instead.

Over the next 44 years, the Britannia would sail the equivalent of once around the world for each year, in total visiting 600 ports in 135 countries. Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones were the first of four couples to honeymoon on the ship in 1960, gifting them all privacy to sail to secluded locations. Prince Charles and Princess Diana followed in 1981 on the Mediterranean as well as Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips before them in 1973 in the Caribbean and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 in the Azores.

For family vacations aboard the ship, games, treasure hunts, plays, and picnics were organized, and on warm days the children could play in an inflatable paddling pool on the Verandah Deck.

In the Sun Lounge, the queen especially enjoyed taking breakfast and afternoon tea with views through large picture windows, a space you can see replicated in the TV show The Crown. Although no filming took place on board the Britannia for the show, researchers ensured scenes aboard it were accurate. In the queen’s bedroom, the resemblance is seen down to the decorative wall light fittings and embroidered silk panel above her bed that had been specially commissioned.

In 1997, the ship was decommissioned after the government decided the costs to refit it would be too great. On its final day in her service that followed a farewell tour around the U.K., the queen openly wept as the Band of HM Royal Marines played "Highland Cathedral."

"Looking back over 44 years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction," Queen Elizabeth II said. All clocks on the ship stopped at 15:01, the exact time the Queen disembarked from the yacht for the final time, and they would remain at that time until the present.

How to Tour the Royal Yacht Britania

Today the yacht is owned by Royal Yacht Britannia Trus t, and all revenue it generates goes to the yacht’s maintenance and preservation. Ticketed entry allows you to step into state rooms like the Sun Lounge, the State Dining Room and State Drawing Room, in addition to the working side of the ship in the Crew’s Quarters, Laundry and gleaming Engine Room. Along the way you will see original artifacts from the shop—95 percent of which is on loan from The Royal Collection.

How to Visit the Royal Britania

You can visit the Britannia any day of the year on Edinburgh’s waterfront. Hours vary by season, and you can find them listed and purchase tickets on the yacht’s website . Private tours are also available, and you can visit the Royal Deck Tearoom, where the Royal Family hosted cocktail parties and receptions, for drinks, meals and scones. Additionally, the Britannia hosts special ticketed events for New Year’s and other occasions, and event spaces can be booked as well.

While you are in Edinburgh, you can also stay on the Fingal , a neighboring yacht-turned-floating-hotel, which is a seven-minute walk from the Britannia, and dine at its Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar, which serves breakfast, afternoon tea, dinner, and cocktails.

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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.
• Boris Johnson's suggestion that a new yacht be built to honor Prince Philip has stoked the debate.

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."

Despite the Queen's fondness for the ship, the Labour government decided to decommission it in 1997, citing cost as its primary reason. At the time, the Britannia cost about £11 million to run each year, Reuters reported .

At the decommissioning ceremony, the Queen shed a rare public tear.

As it turns out, she may have secretly lobbied for a replacement two years earlier, The Times reported .

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On May 5, 1995, the Queen's deputy private secretary wrote a letter to the Cabinet Office — now available in the National Archives — saying that she would "very much welcome" a new yacht, but that he did not wish to make her wishes public for fear of newspaper headlines along the lines of "Queen demands a new yacht." 

Years later, Prince Philip expressed remorse at the government's decision to take the Royal Yacht Britannia off the seas.

"She should have had her steam turbines taken out and diesel engines put in," he said in an interview to mark his 90th birthday, per the Scotsman . "She was as sound as a bell, and she could have gone on for another 50 years." 

Now, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants Britain to build a new yacht named after Prince Philip to help to "sell Britain to the world," The Times reported .

The Ministry of Defence is drawing up plans, and the estimated cost to build the ship is £200 million, or $278 million, according to the Times.

But, according to Sky News' deputy political editor Sam Coates , Johnson does not appear to have run the plan by Buckingham Palace, and despite the Queen's past interest in building a new yacht, this time around she may not be too pleased.

"I'm told the PM hasn't asked the Queen if she'd like a new yacht — she is well aware of the optics — nor has he asked about using Prince Philip's name. Palace apparently very displeased with this suggestion in the papers," Coates tweeted yesterday.

Representatives for Buckingham Palace and the House of Commons did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Watch: Here's what will happen when Queen Elizabeth II dies

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Zaha Hadid Architects Helped Design a Superyacht for the Royal Family—But It Was Never Built

By Katherine McLaughlin

If you’re a fan of deconstructivist architecture and water sports, you may be familiar with Zaha Hadid Architects’ (ZHA) Unique Circle Yachts , a collection of five superyachts the firm unveiled in 2019. Undeniably bold, the boats are strong, imposing, and when they do grace the water, they’ll be hard to look away from. But what you might not know is that the firm also worked on another yacht concept—one designed for the royal family. 

In 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced plans to build a national flagship yacht, which would have been used for trade fairs and diplomatic events, according to the BBC . The new vessel was intended to replace The Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997 following 44 years of service. However, in November of last year, the plans were scrapped, partly because the country wanted to allocate funds toward research and surveillance ships as well as safeguarding national infrastructure following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

A rendering shows the boat passing through Tower Bridge. 

Still, when the plans were in motion, various naval architecture firms submitted proposals for the UK’s flagship, including the Vitruvius Yachts, Zaha Hadid, and Ocea UK team. “Designed to be fit for a king,” as the project description states, the submission was shortlisted, but with the project ultimately canceled, images of the vessel were never shared publicly—until now. 

Vitruvius Yachts recently released renderings for the could’ve-been boat as well as a look into the design process from the three collaborators. “All design contributors were keen to capture the essence of UK heritage and embrace a forward-thinking and innovative approach to the design of the flagship with sustainability at the core,” Vitruvius’s website reads. The vessel, which is outfitted in the colors of the Union Jack, more closely resembled The Royal Yacht Britannia than ZHA’s Unique Circle Yachts and was designed to be built from recycled aluminum and powered by biofuels, hydrogen, and wind. “The nature and intensity of the project kept me focused but also filled me with pride, not just in the design process itself but for what the flagship stands for,” Philippe Briand, a yacht designer at Vitruvius Yachts, said in a statement. 

All design collaborators hoped to honor the heritage of the UK with the superyacht design. 

Inside, the interiors reflect the heritage of the UK, with flexibility at the forefront for the design team. A large formal dining room, for example, can be reconfigured to accommodate breakout rooms with a movable partition. Other interior spaces included a demonstration area for trade shows, medical facilities, a science lab, and office space. 

“The flagship collaboration was an incredible opportunity to act as an architect realising the design of a project that was hugely complex, because it aims to represent not the tastes of one person but the essence of an entire nation,” Briand continued. “That is actually way more difficult than designing for even the most demanding individual.”

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Plans for £250 million royal yacht to promote post-Brexit Britain scrapped

• Westminster
• Monday 7 November 2022 at 4:08pm

Plans to build a new royal yacht to drive post-Brexit trade deals have been scrapped with immediate effect.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace told MPs in the Commons on Monday he has terminated competition to build the flagship.

The project was launched by Boris Johnson's government in May 2021 as a way to "promote the best of British", and the vessel was expected to cost the taxpayer £250 million.

The then prime minister said it would show off "the UK's burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation" after Brexit.

It would have been the first national flagship since the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997.

But as chancellor Jeremy Hunt prepares to make up to £35 billion in spending cuts on 17 November, the national flagship plan was sunk by Rishi Sunak's administration.

The ship was going to be named after the late Prince Philip and would have been used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks.

But it has faced criticism from MPs at a time when there are other priorities for defence spending.

It was expected to be constructed in the UK and take to the water in 2024 or 2025, and would have toured the world as a “floating embassy”.

Mr Wallace told MPs he was prioritising the procurement of the multi-role ocean surveillance ship (MROSS) instead of the flagship.

“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,” he said.

That meant he had “also directed the termination of the national flagship competition with immediate effect to bring forward the first MROSS ship in its place”. Mr Wallace told MPs the MROSS would “protect sensitive defence infrastructure and civil infrastructure” and “improve our ability to detect threats to the seabed and cables”. Shadow defence secretary John Healey welcomed the news that the “previous prime minister’s vanity project” has been scrapped and the spending switched to “purposes that will help defend the country”.

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The Daily Telegraph, which has been campaigning for a replacement for Britannia, reported the two private consortia bidding for the work were told on Monday morning that the project is being axed. The Commons Defence Committee warned in 2021 there was “no evidence of the advantage to the Royal Navy of acquiring the national flagship”.

It added the initial expenditure of around £250 million, combined with the £20–30 million a year running costs and providing a crew, would pile extra pressure on the senior service.

Flagship royal yacht scrapped as government spending cuts loom in autumn statement

Ben Wallace told the Commons he has terminated the competition to build the £200m vessel ahead of the 17 November statement from the chancellor.

Political reporter @NifS

Monday 7 November 2022 18:19, UK

A contentious plan to build a new royal yacht has been scrapped, the defence secretary has confirmed.

The successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was expected to cost around £200m, was announced by Boris Johnson in May 2021 .

Mr Johnson, the prime minister at the time, said it would reflect "the UK's burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation" after Brexit.

The flagship was going to be named after the late Duke of Edinburgh , and used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks as the UK sought to build links and boost exports.

Speaking in the Commons today, Ben Wallace, whose department was due to fund the project , told MPs he was prioritising the procurement of the multirole ocean surveillance ship (MROSS) instead and had cancelled the competition to build the boat.

"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," he said.

The building of the multimillion-pound vessel had been heavily criticised by MPs and peers over whether it was value for money, especially after the public purse had been squeezed during the pandemic.

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Last year, the Commons Defence Committee warned there was "no evidence of the advantage to the Royal Navy of acquiring the national flagship" and that the price tag, as well as running costs, would add to the pressure on the service.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey welcomed the scrapping of the "previous prime minister's vanity project" and that spending was being given to "purposes that will help defend the country".

Its cancellation comes ahead of an autumn statement on 17 November , in which Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor are expected to announce a raft of spending cuts to fill in the £60bn black hole in the public finances.

The pair have been tight-lipped about what other measures will be introduced, and whether commitments such as the pensions triple lock will be kept in place.

Both have promised the announcements will be "compassionate" to those most in need.

Asked about the prime minister's perspective of scrapping the boat, Mr Sunak's official spokesman said he "thinks it is right to prioritise at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made" and "finances are tight".

Mr Wallace told MPs he would hold talks with Mr Sunak and Mr Hunt this week in an attempt to secure funding to "protect our armed forces and our current plans from inflation" in the upcoming statement.

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Sunak sinks new royal yacht plan in favour of ocean surveillance ship

Defence capabilities prioritised over Johnson’s £250m ‘vanity project’ for successor to HMY Britannia

Rishi Sunak has sunk plans by Boris Johnson’s administration to build a new royal yacht, sparking criticism about the £2.5m of taxpayers’ money already spent on the “vanity project”.

As Whitehall braced for cuts expected in Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement next week, the project – intended to promote post-Brexit trade – was abandoned in favour of defence capabilities.

The scheme, championed by Johnson when he was prime minister , was likely to cost up to £250m, with additional annual running costs of up to £30m.

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, who had previously supported the idea and described critics as “doomsters”, told the House of Commons it had been dropped on Monday.

He said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s “reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order” meant it was more important to deliver “capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure”.

Wallace confirmed he had “directed the termination of the national flagship competition with immediate effect”, in order to prioritise the procurement of a multi-role ocean surveillance ship (MRoss).

The MRoss would “protect sensitive defence infrastructure and civil infrastructure” and “improve our ability to detect threats to the seabed and cables”, he said.

Sunak’s spokesperson said the prime minister thought it was “right to prioritise at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made”.

Labour welcomed the news that the government was scrapping Johnson’s “taxpayer-funded vanity project”.

John Healey, the shadow defence secretary, said: “At a time when threats to this country are growing, and the Conservatives’ economic mismanagement threatens future prosperity, this money would have been better spent on our nation’s defences.”

The vessel had been expected to be constructed in the UK and had been planned to take to the water in 2024 or 2025, touring the world as a “floating embassy”.

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Harland & Wolff, a shipbuilding and marine engineering operator based in Belfast, said it was one of two finalists in the design procurement process.

John Wood, the firm’s chief executive, said the decision to scrap the scheme was “disappointing”, but added: “We understand the rationale for doing so, considering the current macroeconomic environment and the ongoing situation in Ukraine.”

He said the flagship would have “returned many multiples of her build cost to the UK economy over many decades, acting as an international demonstration of the creativity and engineering talent the UK has to offer”.

However, the Commons defence committee said in 2021 there was “no evidence of the advantage to the Royal Navy of acquiring the national flagship” and that the cost would pile extra pressure on the armed forces.

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Royal Yacht or Fishing Trawler? Either Way, Even the Royal Family Isn’t Interested.

For Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the proposed $280 million vessel would serve as a symbol of Global Britain. To critics, it’s an ill-conceived boondoggle.

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By Mark Landler

LONDON — The naval architect who designed the Queen Mary 2 likened it to a “1950s fishing trawler, ” while a retired Navy admiral sniffed that the plans for it looked like an “oligarch’s yacht.” A Conservative Party grandee ridiculed it as a “complete waste of time, silly populist nonsense.”

The target of all of this venom is Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest pet project: a replacement for the royal yacht Britannia, mothballed in 1997. Mr. Johnson wants to spend 200 million pounds, or $280 million, to build a new Britannia — not as a plaything for the royal family, which has evinced no interest in another yacht, but as a floating brand ambassador for post-Brexit Britain.

“This new national flagship will be the first vessel of its kind in the world,” the prime minister declared recently, “reflecting the U.K.’s burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation.”

For Mr. Johnson, whose fondness for grand projects ranges from an island airport in the mouth of the Thames River (never built) to a sleek new fleet of double-decker buses for London (built), the appeal of a new Britannia is obvious. With Britain eager to strike trade deals around the world, it could dispatch the yacht to distant ports as a visible manifestation of the Global Britain that Mr. Johnson says was birthed by Brexit.

But the project, which is also championed by the pro-Tory paper The Daily Telegraph, has been caught up in the pesky arithmetic of public finances. The Johnson government is already busting its budget to cushion the economic blow from the pandemic. It is splashing out billions of pounds on big-ticket projects like a high-speed rail link — part of Mr. Johnson’s promise to “level up” inequities between the country’s hard-knocks north and its prosperous south.

To its critics, a royal yacht is a folly — an unaffordable vanity project from a government grasping for atavistic symbols of Britain’s greatness.

“It’s a symptom,” Kenneth Clarke, a former chancellor of the Exchequer and senior figure in the Conservative Party, told the BBC. “Two hundred million pounds is not going to cause problems. But it shows there are people in No. 10 who just think there’s free money and who think that waving a Union Jack and sending yachts and aircraft carriers around the world shows what a great power we are.”

Mr. Clarke was purged from his party in Parliament by Mr. Johnson in 2019 after he voted against one of the government’s Brexit deals. He had previously blocked a plan to replace the Britannia in the 1990s when he was serving under Prime Minister John Major, according to Richard Johnstone-Bryden, who wrote a history of the Britannia and supports the proposal to replace it.

Still, even more sympathetic members of Mr. Johnson’s party have pronounced the idea “daft,” with some predicting it would end up like other chimerical Boris Johnson projects. As mayor of London, he championed a pedestrian bridge across the Thames, topped with trees and a garden. The bridge never made it past blueprints, though it still ended up costing more than $70 million in contracts and other planning costs.

Mr. Johnson also latched on to the idea of an airport to replace Heathrow. To be built on an artificial island in an estuary of the Thames River at a projected cost of tens of billions of dollars, it was perhaps inevitably nicknamed “Boris Island” by the British press. Mr. Johnson is still beguiled by a proposal to build a 28-mile bridge connecting mainland Britain with Northern Ireland.

By these Xanadu-like standards, a $280 million boat is modest. Government officials argue it would pay for itself many times over by helping secure trade deals, military contracts and private investment in Britain.

During its 44 years of service, the Britannia was a reliable closer for the government: Once, after Mr. Major had negotiated $2 billion in contracts during a trip to India — he traveled there by plane — the yacht was dispatched to help the British nail down signatures from foot-dragging Indian officials.

“It’s not a silver bullet in the sense that if you build a royal yacht, your economy doubles overnight,” Mr. Johnstone-Bryden said. “But because of the yacht’s prestige, you can attract top officials for an event promoting a particular industry. Receptions at embassies or hotels don’t have the same draw.”

He likened the Britannia’s iconic status to that of Air Force One. In the same way that the American president’s customized blue-and-white 747 symbolizes the global reach and power of the United States, a royal yacht pays tribute to Britain’s mighty seafaring history. “I’m sure it would be inconceivable to many Americans to retire Air Force One without replacing it,” he said.

In truth, Britain has done just fine without the Britannia. While Queen Elizabeth II famously wiped away a tear when she attended the yacht’s decommissioning ceremony, the royal family has been resolutely silent about replacing it. According to The Daily Mail, it demurred at a proposal to name the new vessel the Duke of Edinburgh, after the queen’s husband, Prince Philip, who died in April . The duke, a former naval officer, had a hand in designing the original Britannia.

Under the influence of Prince Charles, the royal family has become sensitive to showy displays of wealth, particularly when they drain the public purse. The queen, who is 95, does not travel overseas anymore, so the yacht would be used by her heir, Charles, and his son, Prince William, neither of whom have her emotional connection to the Britannia.

Some question whether the whole concept of a royal yacht is superannuated in an era in which Britain is negotiating complex bilateral trade agreements with Australia, the United States, and other countries.

“At the very most, it could be useful as a trade promotion tool,” said Sam Lowe, a trade expert at the Center for European Reform in London. “But it won’t make even the tiniest difference to whether U.K. concludes a trade deal or not.”

Nor does the yacht have an obvious military purpose, even if the defense ministry would be likely to supply its crew and foot at least part of the bill for its operation.

But all of this may be missing the point. Andrew Gimson, one of Mr. Johnson’s biographers, said his pet projects — whether groovy retro buses or garden-topped bridges — invariably serve a political purpose. Mr. Johnson, he said, is akin to a Roman emperor putting on public spectacles. A royal yacht evokes the glories of Britain’s imperial past for a country still groping for a post-Brexit identity.

“There’s at least some working-class voters who would love this,” Mr. Gimson said. “And it’s yet another way of teasing the intelligentsia.”

If that is the case, the biggest problem with Mr. Johnson’s yacht may be that it is a bit dinky. An artist’s rendering issued by Downing Street drew catcalls. Stephen Payne, a naval architect who designed the Queen Mary 2 to evoke the great ocean liners of the past, said the yacht would be too small to have adequate exhibition and conference space. As currently designed, it has only two masts; a royal yacht needs three — to fly the royal standard, the Union Jack and the flag of the admiralty.

The government has said little about the design process. Scuttlebutt in the industry is that it went to a Finnish ship designer. Mr. Payne, who submitted his own design, said the government’s yacht would look more at home unloading its catch in the fishing port of Hull than presiding in the royal dockyard in Portsmouth.

“I really wonder whether the people involved in it understood what they were doing,” he said. “That bridge front looks very much like a Hull fishing trawler.”

Mark Landler is the London bureau chief. In 27 years at The Times, he has been bureau chief in Hong Kong and Frankfurt, White House correspondent, diplomatic correspondent, European economic correspondent, and a business reporter in New York. More about Mark Landler

Inside ‘Britannia,’ Queen Elizabeth II’s Floating Palace

The Royal Yacht, according to Her Majesty, was “the one place where I can truly relax.”

But Britannia was far more than a posh royal cruise liner. She was a showcase for cutting-edge naval engineering and the first royal yacht that could do double duty as a floating hospital in wartime, if necessary. In 1986, for instance, she rescued more than 1,000 refugees from South Yemen. Over the course of her 44 years in service, Britannia facilitated 968 official visits and traveled over one million nautical miles.

She was also, of course, a time capsule of the best British design of the time, in terms of both technological prowess and decoration. Read on for more about the ship’s history, and where the Royal Yacht Britannia is now (hint: You can visit !).

What’s the backstory of Britannia ?

This history of royal liners goes back centuries. In fact, Britannia was the 83rd royal yacht; the first, HMY Mary, was constructed in 1660 by the Dutch East India Company and given as a gift to Charles II. Britannia ’s predecessor, Victoria & Albert III, was completed in 1901 and used by Edward II up through George VI, but was decommissioned in 1939 and eventually broken up as scrap. A new yacht was commissioned on February 4, 1952, in an effort to help King George VI’s health, according to the Royal Yacht Britannia museum, but the king died just two days later. The task to oversee the construction of the new yacht, then, fell on the young Queen Elizabeth II.

Who Built the Royal Yacht Britannia ?

Britannia was designed by John Brown & Co., the same marine engineering firm that built the RMS Lusitania and the Queen Mary. Construction on Britannia began in June 1952, and she was launched in a ceremony on April 16, 1953. The young queen didn’t reveal the name of the liner until her televised address in which she proudly stated before roaring crowds, “I name this ship Britannia .” Notably, a bottle of wine as opposed to the more traditional Champagne, was smashed across the ship’s bow during the christening—Champagne would have been much too ostentatious amid postwar austerity.

Who designed the Royal Yacht Britannia ’s interiors?

According to a technical paper presented to the Institution of Naval Architects in the spring of 1954, the royal and state apartments were to be on par with those of a first-class ocean liner. “The suitability of the decorative design and the furnishing of the Royal and State apartments has, of course, been very important,” the paper noted.

At first, Patrick McBride of the Glasgow, Scotland–based firm, McInnes Gardner & Partners, was selected to design the interiors, but the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh rejected those plans, deeming them too lavish, according to the Royal Yacht Britannia museum. Sir Hugh Casson, the director of architecture at the 1951 Festival of Britain, was the perfect candidate, with his modern eye and lack of ostentation. The design, the architect later wrote in his diary, “was really running a lawn mower over the Louis XVIl adornments. I was going to concentrate on one-color carpet throughout, which was sort of lilac/gray, and all the walls would be white. The only enrichments would be a bit of gilding in grand places.”

Working with Casson, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were highly involved, giving input for everything ranging from the furniture (much of it salvaged from the vessel’s predecessor, Victoria & Albert III , as another way to appear thrifty) to the ship’s blue exterior paint, inspired by the Duke of Edinburgh’s racing yacht, Bluebottle. Apartments featured a design like an elegant-yet-muted English country house, filled with floral sofas and antiques. The state drawing room could accommodate up to 250 guests. The Queen’s favorite room was the sun lounge, with its warm teak walls and rattan furnishings, and views across the veranda deck.

“I suppose Britannia was rather special as far as we were concerned because we were involved from the very beginning in organizing the design and furnishing and equipping and hanging the pictures and everything else,” Prince Philip said in a 1995 documentary film about the yacht. “For us it was rather special because all the other places we live in have been built by our predecessors. They started building Windsor 1,000 years ago, and they built Balmoral 100 years ago, and they built Sandringham 70 or 90 years ago. So we, in a sense, had our own.”

So successful was the partnership that Casson would go on to become a dear friend of the royal family and design interiors for Buckingham Palace, Balmoral , and Windsor Castle

Britannia was also a second home for the royal children. Each was given a member of the crew or “sea daddy” to look after them. “We found as children that there was so much to do, we expended so much energy that we couldn’t describe our time on the yacht as a rest,” Princess Anne said. Milk was delivered fresh from a farmer each day for the royal children, according to letters from the ship’s Acting Captain J. S. Dalglish. Later, the yacht would become the venue for numerous royal honeymoons and vacations, including Princess Diana and Prince Charles’s infamous 1981 Mediterranean cruise.

Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia Now?

As documented in season 5 of The Crown , the Royal Yacht was decommissioned on December 11, 1997, at a ceremony in Portsmouth, U.K., after nearly half a century in service and having traveled more than one million nautical miles. In addition to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward all attended the ceremony. As the British ensign was lowered to the tune of a navy band, Her Majesty was photographed blinking back tears .

Britannia was retired to Port of Leith in Edinburgh. Today, as one of the most popular tourist sites in the U.K., she serves as a museum and receives some 350,000 visitors per year who can tour the State dining room, the Queen’s bedroom, and sun lounge, as well as view the engine room and crew’s cabins. Visitors can even have tea and scones on the royal deck. The majority of the items on display are original to the yacht and are on loan from the Royal Collection.

In a bizarre 21st-century twist, former British prime minister Boris Johnson announced plans to build a Britannia successor, a £250 million yet-to-be-named, taxpayer-funded superyacht to operate as a “floating embassy.” The new British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, recently torpedoed those plans in favor of building a surveillance ship.

Anna Fixsen, Deputy Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, focuses on how to share the best of the design world through in-depth reportage and online storytelling. Prior to joining the staff, she has held positions at Architectural Digest, Metropolis, and Architectural Record magazines. elledecor.com 

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Royal Huisman Is Building the World’s Tallest Sailing Yacht

Project 411's sloop rig will tower at 305 feet., rachel cormack.

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Royal Huisman is vying to make marine history.

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“I am pleased and humbled that we can highlight Royal Huisman’s 140th year of operation with the announcement of such a significant project,” the yard’s CEO Jan Timmerman said in a statement. “Of the hundreds of vessels our shipyard has delivered in its history, Project 411 will be our fourth yacht in the ranks of the world’s Top 10 largest sailing yachts.”

British naval architect Malcolm McKeon designed Noir for an experienced yachtsman who wants to sail the globe with his loved ones and closest friends. The performance sloop will showcase the Brit’s signature contemporary styling, with a reverse bow for maximum waterline length and a sleek hull for effortless cruising. The vessel will also feature expanses of glass and folding platforms to connect guests with the sea and a flybridge for alfresco entertaining.

Speed, power, and responsive handling were also part of the owner’s brief. As a result, Noir will built entirely from aluminum to reduce weight and increase speed. The yacht will also be equipped with electric drives that provide additional power as needed. The folks at Dutch outfit Rondal will supply the mast, boom, and integrated sailing system. All the deck gear will be black, hence the nickname Noir. The sloop will also be large enough to accommodate a 45-foot tender.

Spanish firm GCA Architects will spearhead the interior design of Noir. Details are rather scant, but designer Josep Juanpere Miret says the living quarters will complement the yacht’s modern exterior. Miret adds that a mix of natural materials and textures will create a “relaxed yet luxurious atmosphere.”

Rachel Cormack is a digital editor at Robb Report. She cut her teeth writing for HuffPost, Concrete Playground, and several other online publications in Australia, before moving to New York at the…

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Royal Huisman announces contract for record-breaking 81m sailing yacht

Dutch shipyard Royal Huisman has announced that construction will soon begin on an 81-metre sailing yacht codenamed Noir (or Project 411).

The sloop has been conceived by "a skilled owner and his team" and will be used for world cruising with his loved ones and closest friends. Once delivered, the all-aluminium build will rank among the 10 largest sailing yachts in the world .

Designed by Malcolm McKeon , the yacht will feature the world's tallest sloop rig at 93 metres.

Large areas of glass and folding platforms will maintain guests' connection to the sea, while a flybridge will provide generous outdoor living space when underway. In keeping with her namesake, all the deck gear and all her windows will be black. She has also been specifically designed to carry a 14-metre tender, as the owner's brief required coastal exploration and the ability to transport guests and provisions without repositioning the yacht closer to a harbour.

"We are very pleased to be building again at Royal Huisman," said Malcolm McKeon. "Having built our award-winning 59.7-metre Sarissa there, we are well acquainted with the shipyard’s engineering skills, innovations, and the level of craftsmanship."

Her interiors are being developed by GCA Architects of Barcelona, Spain, a firm best known for residential and commercial design. While details are undisclosed, designer Josep Juanpere Miret has said that the interior will complement the sailing yacht's "contemporary exterior" and provide a "relaxed atmosphere".

"The capabilities of Royal Huisman can be seen in various ways, with no doubt the most important proof point being that we are selected by knowledgeable owners as the builder for their incredible and unique yachts. I am pleased and humbled that we can highlight Royal Huisman’s 140th year of operation with the announcement of such a significant project," said CEO Jan Timmerman.

Noir will be equipped with electric drives, while Rondal will supply the mast, boom, and integrated sailing system.

This follows the launch of Royal Huisman's Project 406 in Amsterdam, also known as the world's largest sportfish.

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