Royal Transportation (land, sea, air)

[Muhler]

I think it would cost nearly as much to make the necessary changes to the Britannia as it would to build a new one.

In addition, HMY is a popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh (I think?) and I would guess they would hate to lose it.

A brand new yacht is much more sensible and has this taxpayer's full support! According to the Telegraph, people have been writing to them actually sending cheques in and offering to donate their winter fuel payments that the government gives to people of retirement age towards a new yacht!

Not a British taxpayer myself, - but I agree for several reasons.

A new Britannia needs extensive upgrading in security, communications, accommodation, fuel economy and no doubt various work-safety-measures as well.
It would IMO be much more sensible to commission a whole new ship. With British design, British build, British furnishing and the best (again mainly) British technology.
- That at least is how I would sell the idea.
As a floating representative for not only Britain, but the best Britain can offer.

Not only will it save money when going visiting abroad, at least for the visited country, but it will also be easier to protect and be a more permanent home away from home for the BRF - rather than hotels and guest-rooms.
Not to mention that a well-designed and good looking Britannia will be an attraction in itself.

 

[Muhler]

Well, I too hope these talks will materialize into an actual yacht. It's a long shot, but at least some official talks are actually happening with lots of backing. A lot of plans and cost have to be thought through.

I had no idea that other countries had State Yachts. I know of other royal yachts, but State Yachts.

USA had an official presidential yacht IIRC.

 

[Osipi]

I think it would cost nearly as much to make the necessary changes to the Britannia as it would to build a new one.

In addition, HMY is a popular tourist attraction in Edinburgh (I think?) and I would guess they would hate to lose it.

A brand new yacht is much more sensible and has this taxpayer's full support! According to the Telegraph, people have been writing to them actually sending cheques in and offering to donate their winter fuel payments that the government gives to people of retirement age towards a new yacht!

The Brittania is indeed moored outside of Edinburgh I believe and is quite a popular tourist attraction.

I find it quite touching that the public has been taking these measures in support of a seafaring vessel once again roaming the high seas for Great Britain. From what I've read, the funds for this will be by private donations and not out of the taxpayer's pockets and it does seem that some of the public are showing their support for this project. That is so cool!

 

[Dman]

Government has 'no plans' for royal yacht for Brexit trade talks - BBC News

I agree that good proposals have to be put forward and private financing should be used.

 

[polyesco]

I think it would be great if they did

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

After the referendum people might have expected the UK politicians to be engaged by now in a serious and wide-ranging debate on how to mend fences with the so-much-bigger brother across the Channel. Instead, Britain is losing itself in delusional grandstanding, talking about itself to itself, using the Britannia as a loincloth to disguise that Westminster has no idea what to do now: drag that boat in the harbour of Kiel! Angela Merkel surely will shiver by the sight of it and give in! Come on....

 

[Dman]

After the referendum people might have expected the UK politicians to be engaged by now in a serious and wide-ranging debate on how to mend fences with the so-much-bigger brother across the Channel. Instead, Britain is losing itself in delusional grandstanding, talking about itself to itself, using the Britannia as a loincloth to disguise they have no idea what to do now.

The U.K. have relaunch themselves on the world stage of trade and diplomatic relations. Lots of brainstorming going on, but putting plans to a new State Yacht for official reasons is a good start, IMO.

 

[wyevale]

they have no idea what to do now.

Actually we know PERFECTLY well what to do.. which is to negotiate our departure from the EU, as per the democratic decision of the people on June 23rd inst.

 

[Dman]

We DO need a new Royal Yacht say the last three men who captained Britannia | Daily Mail Online

 

[Rudolph]

The construction of a successor to royal yacht Britannia has moved a signifcant step closer after a group of entrepreneurs pledged £250,000 to pay a City firm to carry out an analysis of her costs and benefits to the British economy.

Deloitte, one of the world’s biggest consultancy firms, has been formally approached by the group of businessmen to develop plans for a successor to the royal yacht.

Representatives from the group met with Deloitte this week and have offered to pay £250,000 for a "scoping document" which will the cost of a new ship and her benefit to the economy.

Read more: Successor to new Britannia moves closer as Deloitte approached to carry out cost benefit analysis

 

[PetticoatLane]

I'm glad this is happening but, my word, £250k for a report?? Those accountants really know what they're doing.

 

[eya]

Royal Yacht Britannia - Get a Rare Glimpse Inside Prince Charles and Princess Diana's Honeymoon Yacht

 

[Rudolph]

As the political landscape continues to shift, a campaign by the Telegraph to recommission the Royal Yacht Britannia has gathered momentum. In a move that could give some indication of what such a revised vessel might look like, London-based superyacht designers and architecture studio Winch Design has shared its plans for a modernised version of the long-serving royal yacht.

Read more: Exclusive: How the new Royal Yacht Britannia could look

 

[Muhler]

I like the British style of ship-building, with the curves and feminine sleek lines of ships and yachts.

That's the way a yacht should look like, rather than the floating, soul-less monstrosities that looks like bricks, which we see so often.
Perhaps a little lover superstructure would make her look more like a liner-of-the-seas if I am to point to something that should be changed

 

[eya]

Aston Martin Vantage V8: a Prince Charles favourite goes up for auction 

 

[eya]

Royal Yacht Britannia has most successful year in 2016 | Royal | News | Daily Express

 

[ROYAL NORWAY]

Read more of this very long article: A new Royal Yacht Britannia would help strengthen links with the Commonwealth after Brexit

The modern Commonwealth consists of a breadth of smaller and larger countries that collectively represent the new growth demographics and economies.

It is in the United Kingdom's interests to build imaginative and stronger connections with this network of countries that share a common working language, adherence to the rule of law and sets of comparable values.

These abiding links - engrained, historical, sporting and cultural – create what is often described as 'the Commonwealth Advantage'. It is not only in the interests of the United Kingdom to make more of this advantage.

It is inevitable, in whatever shape the relationship with the European Union emerges, that adjacent European countries will be connected in some sort of symbiotic relationship and in this sense a stronger Commonwealth is of similar interest to our European friends.

It is a highly competitive world in which to develop this new persona and to demonstrate intent, the United Kingdom will need to be on top of its game to exploit all aspects of a well thought through soft-power agenda.

There are of course, important roles for government to play but, in the age of the connected citizen, a compelling and vivid representation of character and style will be vital to the success of UK plc.

In years gone by the United Kingdom employed a floating ambassador in the form of HMY Britannia. It its 44 years of service the yacht was a majestic symbol of national esteem and an iconic, photogenic focus for what would now be described as soft power.

The Britannia will always be connected with images of the Royal Family and of Her Majesty in particular, but to identify the yacht as some sort of floating palace of convenience completely misses the point.

The passages of the Britannia and the ports she visited resulted in goodwill, business opportunities, influence and a reminder of the United Kingdom as a partner of choice.

Read more: Build a new Royal Yacht Britannia and deliver a 20 year old Conservative manifesto pledge, party historian tells Theresa May

Building a new Royal Yacht Britannia has “overwhelming support” and would allow the Conservatives finally to deliver on a 20 year old Conservative manifesto pledge, the party’s official historian Lord Lexden says.

In a letter to today's Daily Telegraph, Lord Lexden said a new yacht would fulfil a “deep longing” for Britain to show that it is “confident about our capacity to shape a new national destiny” outside the EU.

He says: “It is hard to think of anything that would hearten our country more than the revival of our neglected maritime traditions which a new royal yacht would symbolise.”

More than 70 Conservative MPs are backing plans for a new royal yacht to act as a catalyst for a newly independent Britain to win new trade deals.

The Daily Telegraph has started a campaign for a return of a modern-day version of Britannia. Theresa May, the Prime Minister, has set her face against the idea however.

“There is overwhelming support for the original plan of making a new yacht a gift from us all to a beloved sovereign.

Gift to a beloved sovereign? It will take time to build this gift, and HM is almost 91.

I was hoping the telegraph and other supporters of a new royal yacht had given up.

Do we need a new Royal Yacht? Yes we do.

Do I support this campaign? No I don't.

And there are three reasons for this:

1) Jeremy Corbyn and his people will never support it.

2) The republicans who always complains will complain even more and the Mirror will go through the roof.

3) We should concentrate on the renovation of Buckingham Palace.

 

[Dman]

Royal Train saved from the scrapheap after Queen makes it known it is still her favoured mode of transport

I wish we could go back to the days when the Royal family was pictured departing and arriving to and from Sandringham on the Royal Train. It seems like the family used it more often back in the day. Not everything is about cost.

 

[Skippyboo]

I have read that the only royals allowed to use the Royal Train is the Queen, Philip, Charles and Camilla.

Most of the Queens engagements are at the Palaces. So she would not need it very much.

 

[vkrish]

Inspite of being an ardent royalist, I simply cannot support the idea of Britannia version 2.0 Those days are over.. That's it.

 

[Osipi]

I agree with you vkrish. The glory days of Brittania that served the Empire so well has been washed into the shores of history as times changed, Transportation changed, the economy changed and the people changed. Ways and means of travel around the world has improved leaps and bounds and is more cost efficient and quicker now than its ever been.

Its also much more efficient for HM to travel to Sandringham, Balmoral or anywhere else in the country by how she's doing it now. A regularly scheduled train with her royal car added to it. It works for her.

 

[Dman]

I think you guys are right. Those glory days are gone. The fact is that the Royal Yacht shouldn't have been decommissioned. Now that's happened, it's very hard to get it back. It would be lovely if it happen though. Especially for the new faces of the royal family.

The royal family like traveling by the royal train. If they had it their way, they would mainly use it. The cost of the use of the train has caused them to use scheduled trains more often. Don't be fooled though...the royals love their official transportations.

 

[Muhler]

I very much disagree.
I think there are both good reasons for building a new royal yacht and just as much for using it.
Not least in these years after Brexit.

I think I've listed these reasons several times before in this thread, so I won't repeat myself.

For an island-nation a royal yacht is anything but a has-been.

 

[padams2359]

I think the cost of retrofitting the original yacht was $10 mil at the time. Bet many are now regretting letting it go.

 

[Dman]

I very much disagree.
I think there are both good reasons for building a new royal yacht and just as much for using it.
Not least in these years after Brexit.

I think I've listed these reasons several times before in this thread, so I won't repeat myself.

For an island-nation a royal yacht is anything but a has-been.

It would be great for a new Yacht to be commissioned and it would serve the monarchy and government well. It's just hard to get everyone on board to commission one today. The focus is now on cost and the look of extravagance. I hope one is officially commissioned. Britannia shouldn't have been decommissioned, but improved with technology.

I'm still waiting to see what's going to become of the talks within the government.

 

[Osipi]

Maybe, just maybe they will come to believe that the original Brittania with all the wonderful accoutrements that made this ship so special deserves to be retrofitted and updated for use once again and actually then be seen as a national treasure that is not only excellently preserved in its original form but also still serves the monarchy and its government still.

Maybe its a pipe dream but I think its a good pipe dream.

 

[Jacknch]

I very much disagree.
I think there are both good reasons for building a new royal yacht and just as much for using it.
Not least in these years after Brexit.

I think I've listed these reasons several times before in this thread, so I won't repeat myself.

For an island-nation a royal yacht is anything but a has-been.

I wholeheartedly agree. The use of transport by boat/yacht/ship is not some outdated remnant of days gone by. The Danish and Norwegian Royal Families have a royal yacht and both these countries are very modern, forward thinking nations able to cope with the connection between tradition, history and progress.

I can't see extravagance in any forms of royal transport considering that Britain is a nation that is well off and that most people have all sorts of extravagances in their lives to one degree or another.

We are an island nation, we love the sea and we love going on ships!

 

[royal rob]

No way in hell will they build another royal yacht and millions would disagree that most people have all sorts of extravagances.

 

[Rudolph]

A new £100million Royal Yacht Britannia would attract “overwhelming support” and will be considered by the Government, Boris Johnson has said.

The Foreign Secretary’s remarks are the first time that a Government minister has backed the campaign for a new ship at the despatch box in the House of Commons.

Read more: New Royal Yacht Britannia would attract 'overwhelming support' and will be considered by ministers, Boris Johnson announces in Parliament

 

[Dman]

Prince Philip backed plans for a new Royal Yacht Britannia that could be used a training ship for apprentices