As I understood it, the Royal Yacht Britannia was funded, run and manned by the Royal Navy. To recommission HMY Brittania, or to build a new HMY would undoubtedly prompt the Navy to demand an uplift in their budget which doesn't look forthcoming.
To be honest, even as an ardent royalist, I can't see the need for a Royal Yacht. Since HMY Brittania was decommissioned, The Queen has shown she is quite capable of fulfilling all her public duties using other forms of travel and in my personal opinion it's a bit of a harkback to imperial times which we don't really need.
Brittania was a sumptuous vessel though. When we were in Edinburgh in 2005, we nipped down to Leith to go onboard and see it. Doing the guided tour, I was very impressed. In its heyday, it would have been a very potent symbol of British imperial grandeur.
Very naughty of the Grauniad though, to put the headline directly below the picture of the stricken cruise liner. Tsk... naughty, naughty Grauniad.
Jan 16, 2012 @ 12:46:36
