Royal Transportation (land, sea, air)


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:previous: Well, first come, first served.
 
:previous: Heir Force One: When travel plans collide - ITV News
It’s been called “Heir rage” and “plane wars” but there appears to be little substance in claims that the Prime Minister was annoyed after Prince Charles “stole” her plane.

It is true, however, that the one RAF jet reserved for royals and senior government ministers could not be in two places at once.

So when the Prime Minister booked her trip this week to Saudi Arabia, Downing Street discovered her plane was already taken.

Prince Charles and Camilla were on it - as they jetted to Romania, Italy and Austria on their Spring tour.
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The British press: Prince Charles ''stole'' her plane. Me: It's not her plane.
 
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New royal car

In the TV coverage about Prince Philip this morning, I seem to have spotted a new royal car. All I saw was the right side towards the rear with the Queen getting out. It's dark green and I'm thinking Bentley Mulsanne. Might someone know?
Royal transport is an interest of mine so if that's your interest as well please get in touch
 
kristens said:
In the TV coverage about Prince Philip this morning, I seem to have spotted a new royal car. All I saw was the right side towards the rear with the Queen getting out. It's dark green and I'm thinking Bentley Mulsanne. Might someone know?
Royal transport is an interest of mine so if that's your interest as well please get in touch
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It's not new, the Queen has used a Bentley Mulsanne as her private car for at leat met 5 years now , if not more.
 
I just imagine an ad like that

Hornby royal train

I hope it's OK to mention modelling of royal transport here. Models of the carriages and locomotives are regularly on Ebay and I'm tempted. As I wouldn't want just a shelf display, there would have to be a layout on which to run it.
 
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muriel said:
Probably replaced with a similar one
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Seems odd a queen who is known to be thrifty, would sell a 4 year old car she barely used (was retired for two years when went on sale) just to buy basically an identical car.

But I guess anything is possible.
 
It could be it was a lease. "Back in the day" and when they had the contract, Ford would lease new Lincolns for presidential use at I think $1 a year
 
Countessmeout said:
Seems odd a queen who is known to be thrifty, would sell a 4 year old car she barely used (was retired for two years when went on sale) just to buy basically an identical car.

But I guess anything is possible.
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People often replace there cars every two or three years. In her case, her choice of cars is actually quite limited: the Rolls Royce appears rather gauche, leaving you with the Bentley or the Jaguar.
 
"The Queen likes her cars.
Her Majesty isn't required to have a licence, but she learnt to drive during World War II when she operated a first-aid truck for the Women’s Auxillary Territorial Service.
She now has a collection estimated to be worth £10 million, according to online car dealer Car Keys"


http://www.businessinsider.com/queen-car-collection-worth-10-million-2017-5?r=UK&IR=T


Ministers are being urged to launch a lottery game to raise funds for a new £120million Royal Yacht Britannia to "showcase post-Brexit Britain and bring trade to our shores".


Britannia to win the Lottery! Fifty Tory MPs back new lotto game to let public pay for new royal yacht
 
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Other members of the family are known to lease cars so they don't sell them and buy new ones, the lease terms mean the car is simply replaced.
 
Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by train in 1842 and she had her own built in 1869
It was then adapted in 1895 and finished with 23-carat gold paint and luxurious fabrics for the interiors
The locomotive hasn't been fully restored since the 1960s but is being renovated thanks to a mystery donor
Queen Victoria train carriage to be restored | Daily Mail Online
 
This story seems to come back every year, but with a different hustle to pay for it each time. Now it's lottery tickets, in the past it was some kind of private equity deal, and before that it was going to be a floating university.

Until I see it, I'll continue to refrain from believing it. I think various factions have been coming up with these schemes since before the old yacht was decommissioned and it's always come to nothing.
 
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What makes me laugh is it always seems to be Government ministers supporting the plan, if they support it so much let the government fund it.
 
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I don’t think it’s delusional per se. There are clear advantages to the idea but they seem to forget that the world has changed a lot since Britannia was decommissioned. It’s a faster world and a world where every minute detail of every tiny issue is over examined and pulled to pieces on social media. It’s quicker for the Royal Family to fly than it is for them to sail. There are security implications that didn’t exist before. And whether it’s funded by a lottery or by the Tax payer, it’ll only bring about unnecessary criticism for both Palace and Downing St. It’s a lovely idea but one that’s best shelved for a while.
 
Indeed, I agree Duc.

We had a beautiful Royal Yacht years ago, well recognised around the world, a much loved yacht, symbolic mainly of the fact that we are or were a sea-faring nation and enabling a different form of travel around the globe for the Queen.

Then we got rid of it without a care for anything on the basis that it was only fit for the knackers yard. Now we want a new one apparently for a purpose I do not believe it can achieve- how does that look?

If anything, funds should be raised to get the old Royal Yacht Britannia up and running again
- more realistically symbolic I would have thought.
 
Gaudete said:
I don’t think it’s delusional per se. There are clear advantages to the idea but they seem to forget that the world has changed a lot since Britannia was decommissioned. It’s a faster world and a world where every minute detail of every tiny issue is over examined and pulled to pieces on social media. It’s quicker for the Royal Family to fly than it is for them to sail. There are security implications that didn’t exist before. And whether it’s funded by a lottery or by the Tax payer, it’ll only bring about unnecessary criticism for both Palace and Downing St. It’s a lovely idea but one that’s best shelved for a while.
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It is really desilusional. Look at the Germans. Their economy booms through the rooftops. Year after year they close the books with billions of Budget Surplusses. No Presidential Yacht Germania in sight...

Are the Tories really thinking that the sight of King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving with the Britannia in the port of Lisbon will help Brexit Britain anyhow? And that would not have been achieved when King Charles and Queen Camilla landed at Lisbon Airport?

:eek:

And: as long as there are painful shortages in the NHS, food banks, rough sleepers, the opioid crisis in the British cities, the draconic cuts in the Armed Forces, the sight of the royal family sailing around on the Britannia 2 will be the dream target for every opponent of the Tory government: "Now we know the priorities of the Tories: decommission HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion because of Budget cuts. And then commission a new Royal Yacht for one of the world's richest families."

:bang:
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
It is really desilusional. Look at the Germans. Their economy booms through the rooftops. Year after year they close the books with billions of Budget Surplusses. No Presidential Yacht Germania in sight...

Are the Tories really thinking that the sight of King Charles III and Queen Camilla arriving with the Britannia in the port of Lisbon will help Brexit Britain anyhow? And that would not have been achieved when King Charles and Queen Camilla landed at Lisbon Airport?

:eek:

And: as long as there are painful shortages in the NHS, food banks, rough sleepers, the opioid crisis in the British cities, the draconic cuts in the Armed Forces, the sight of the royal family sailing around on the Britannia 2 will be the dream target for every opponent of the Tory government: "Now we know the priorities of the Tories: decommission HMS Bulwark and HMS Albion because of Budget cuts. And commission a new Royal Yacht."

:bang:
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I think you're reading far too much into this. This idea is often touted by the backbenches of the Conservative Party for various reasons. It appeared first in opposition as a gift for the Golden Jubilee, it appeared again for the Diamond Jubilee, now it's appeared again connected to our exit from the European Union. For some it's sentimental, for others its because they're royalists and feel it's wrong that Britannia was so unfairly scrapped and for others, it's seen as a genuine extension of the FCO which Britannia undoubtedly was when it was in service.

But you need to take Europe out of the equation. You can't compare the British Monarchy to the German Presidency and also, we're not talking about Lisbon. When the idea is put forward by those who are connecting it to our exit from the European Union, it's done with a view for longer journeys around the Commonwealth and to countries which we have no trade deals with yet but which we'll be approaching for such arrangements. Practically yes, it would be much easier and quicker to fly to these places. Would the government of Singapore or Australia be more inclined to give us a trade deal if there was a Royal Yacht? I don't think so. Would it be an impressive display of what Britain has in a symbolic way? Absolutely.

Delusional is too strong a word and it's wrong to present this as Conservative Party policy. It isn't. There are many advantages to it, there are also many disadvantages. It won't happen for one reason and one reason only - cost. Even if it was funded by a lottery, the actual running costs would have to be met by the government and that isn't something the government of today is ever going to consider. It's a nice idea, it would be lovely to see a Royal Yacht back in service but it's hard to justify one even if it would be a little diplomatic bonus in Britain's back pocket.
 
Gaudete said:
I think you're reading far too much into this. This idea is often touted by the backbenches of the Conservative Party for various reasons. It appeared first in opposition as a gift for the Golden Jubilee, it appeared again for the Diamond Jubilee, now it's appeared again connected to our exit from the European Union. For some it's sentimental, for others its because they're royalists and feel it's wrong that Britannia was so unfairly scrapped and for others, it's seen as a genuine extension of the FCO which Britannia undoubtedly was when it was in service.

But you need to take Europe out of the equation. You can't compare the British Monarchy to the German Presidency and also, we're not talking about Lisbon. When the idea is put forward by those who are connecting it to our exit from the European Union, it's done with a view for longer journeys around the Commonwealth and to countries which we have no trade deals with yet but which we'll be approaching for such arrangements. Practically yes, it would be much easier and quicker to fly to these places. Would the government of Singapore or Australia be more inclined to give us a trade deal if there was a Royal Yacht? I don't think so. Would it be an impressive display of what Britain has in a symbolic way? Absolutely.

Delusional is too strong a word and it's wrong to present this as Conservative Party policy. It isn't. There are many advantages to it, there are also many disadvantages. It won't happen for one reason and one reason only - cost. Even if it was funded by a lottery, the actual running costs would have to be met by the government and that isn't something the government of today is ever going to consider. It's a nice idea, it would be lovely to see a Royal Yacht back in service but it's hard to justify one even if it would be a little diplomatic bonus in Britain's back pocket.
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It can also give a wrong image. King Charles III and Queen Camilla of a cracking United Kingdom, sailing in all splendour to self-conscious and booming India. What king of neo-colonial message is that?

"Let us do business" is then the next question from the British to the Indians (or the Canadians, or the Australians, or whoever). The response will be: "What trade can we do with you and Europe, which we do not already do in this globalized world?" And it will become painful that -aside of the splendour of the Britannia 2- the UK realizes it has not so much to offer as all the assets of the British economy are foreign owned anyway.

My advice would be: spare the money for the Britannia 2 and invest in innovation, in correcting the completely disbalanced services-economy into an economy which has a subtantial innovative production capacity.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
It can also give a wrong image. King Charles III and Queen Camilla of a cracking United Kingdom, sailing in all splendour to self-conscious and booming India. What king of neo-colonial message is that?

"Let us do business" is then the next question from the British to the Indians (or the Canadians, or the Australians, or whoever). The response will be: "What trade can we do with you and Europe, which we do not already do in this globalized world?" And it will become painful that -aside of the splendour of the Britannia 2- the UK realizes it has not so much to offer as all the assets of the British economy are foreign owned anyway.

My advice would be: spare the money for the Britannia 2 and invest in innovation, in correcting the completely disbalanced services-economy into an economy which has a subtantial innovative production capacity.
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But that's getting into the pros and cons of Brexit which isn't for this forum. I don't think writing us off as the poor man of Europe destined to shiver and starve is very fair either. A new Royal Yacht won't appear any time soon. Neither will it ever become Conservative Party policy. As to the rest of your post? Time will tell.
 
Duc_et_Pair said:
The bare idea that a King Charles or a King William embarking with the Britannia 2 in Toulon, in Rotterdam or in Bilbao is "helping" Brexit Britain is too desilusional for words.
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So very true! As if other Europeans would rush to buy more English cheese or choose a British software firm because Prince Andrew now has a boat to putter around on.
Seriously, this sounds like the kind of argument a New York Real Estate Developer would suggest for national economic growth. :lol:
 
Again, it’s not Europe that will be our priority once we leave. That was kinda the whole point.
 
This from the royal website

”The Sovereign Grant meets the cost of official journeys undertaken by or in support of The Queen and other members of the Royal Family. Travel by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall and The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge between residences is categorised as official.”

The Cambridges taking a helicopter from KP to Norfolk is no different than Charles taking a helicopter between Highgrove and CH.

Senior royals travelling between residences is official travel.
 
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I see Harry's driving an Audi. I know he's not the first member of the RF to go for an Audi but there's really no excuse for driving a German car, particularly now with Brexit about to happen. We need to be supporting our British brands who employ thousands of British workers. It's not as if there aren't any British luxury car brands to choose from, Jaguar/Land Rover as the prime example.
 
PetticoatLane said:
I know he's not the first member of the RF to go for an Audi but there's really no excuse for driving a German car, particularly now with Brexit about to happen. We need to be supporting our British brands who employ thousands of British workers. It's not as if there aren't any British luxury car brands to choose from, Jaguar/Land Rover as the prime example.
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Are you serious?:ermm:
I have never (and probably will never) own a German car, I prefer other car styles - but don't you think that's a bit extreme? Do you want to ban all non-UK brands from the Royal family? Will they be allowed to leave the UK for holidays and spend their precious British money abroad? What about eating Indian food? Fish and chips until they die?
I am sorry, but I am really a bit shocked.
 
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