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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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What will the new royal yacht look like?

When the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 as a cost-cutting measure by the British government, not everyone was ready to say farewell. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now confirmed that a new royal yacht will be operational by 2026, with design plans due to be released around the time of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee . According to Johnson, the royal yacht will sail around the world hosting trade negotiations as part of Britain's post-Brexit plans – but what will it look like? We pitched the idea to six teams of designers...

Project Albion

Team members : Steve Gresham, Fiona Diamond, Mike Fisher, Mike Brandy, Jarkko Jamsen and James Kandsch

The design : Project Albion is a 140 metre, three-masted sailing yacht with telescopic wing sails that allow the rig to concertina into itself when at anchor or cruising under power. High-profile guests stepping aboard can make use of its two helidecks: one retractable landing pad on the starboard side that doubles as an exhibition space, and another on the bow with a helicopter hangar beneath. Alternatively, there's a hydrogen-powered royal limousine tender named Lillibet (the Queen’s familial nickname)

Star features : At the heart of the yacht sits a grand, double-height ballroom for royal gatherings. Two-storey structural glass windows on either side offer sweeping sea views –  the perfect backdrop to any royal occasion.

“Project Albion is a modern, forward-thinking sailing yacht, incorporating green features and technology, whilst maintaining a sense of grandeur and tradition”  – Fiona Diamond

Stateship Britannia

Team members : Tim Gosling, Luiz de Basto, Bart de Haan, Jerry Lakeman, Luca Scarsella

The design : The Stateship Britannia is a striking 202 metre motor yacht designed to function as a floating embassy. Split into three spaces – public, shared and private – royal yacht is able to host large-scale, international events but also serves as a private residence for royals on board. There’s a helicopter hangar that converts into an emergency hospital, which in light of recent events won't go amiss, while the portholes are deliberately positioned to read ‘2020’ in morse code, marking the year as the beginning of a new era for the royal family.

Star features : A Union Jack-printed glass funnel houses wind turbines with vertical rotors that assist the yacht’s hydrogen propulsion system.

“We want a yacht that stands out and cannot be confused with any other multi-million pound boat. It’s something different”  – Luiz de Basto

Royal Red Diamond

Team members : Frank Neubelt, Theodoros Fotiadis, Guido de Groot, Enrique Tintore, Carl Sorenson

The design : A seven-deck modern-classic with a conservative design that reflects the tradition and values of the royal family. Measuring 140 metres, Royal Red Diamond features a Neptune lounge, two helipads, a duplex royal stateroom and a swimming pool that sits between the two funnels. The motor yacht will be powered by twin Rolls Royce 5,500hp diesel-electric engines.

Star feature : A grand atrium with an imperial staircase sits aft, enclosed by structural glass, and doubles as a gallery and exhibition space.

“It’s a seven-deck world cruiser with a modern-classic style to reflect the conservative ethos of the royal house”  – Frank Neubelt

Team members : Daniel Nerhagen, Guglielmo Carrozzo, Willem Jan Kuipers, Claudio Zimarino

The design : Royal Lion takes its inspiration from the famous Cutty Sark clipper, a merchant sailing ship that used to bring tea back to Britain from China in the 1800s – with a few upgrades of course. A 180 metre sailing yacht requires some serious sail power, which comes in the form of 24 solar sails housed in four DynaRig masts, allowing the royal yacht to reach 17 to 18 knots.

Star features : A platform that opens from the transom can be used as a touch-and-go helipad for royal visits and also doubles as a party platform for state functions and social occasions.

“Royal Lion can store solar energy through the sails into high capacity batteries, which can be used for the hotel load or for manoeuvrability when coming in to port”  – Claudio Zimarino

Britannia As A Rule

Team members : Michele Dragoni, Bart Bouwhuis, Wayne Parker, Aristotelis Betsis, Kriss Hogg

The design : This modern eco-yacht is designed to be carbon neutral for a new era of eco-savvy royals. Among its credentials are solar panels, turbine tubes and a nuclear power plant by Rolls Royce. In their downtime, the royal family can make use of the yacht's electric Jet Skis, electric helicopter and there's even an electric Land Rover Defender for trips ashore. Other highlights include a dedicated "palace deck" with a royal stateroom and a helicopter hangar on the foredeck.

Star features : For those boarding the yacht via the aft, sliding glass doors on the transom open to reveal one large indoor-outdoor exhibition space.

“It’s a floating showcase of all that’s great about Great Britain”  – Bart Bouwhuis

Project Winston

Team members : Andrew Winch, Gabriel Gabie, Jenny Skoog, Sally Storey, Alejandro Hahn

The design : With the Union Jack plastered across three DynaRig masts, there’s no confusion as to which family this royal yacht belongs to. Project Winston takes its design cues from three great British symbols: the hull is inspired by an Aston Martin, the upper deck by a crown, and the sails by the Union Jack. Elsewhere, sitting proudly on the bow is a figurehead of a British bulldog, while a bejewelled royal balcony is the perfect spot from which to wave-off the evening's guests.

Star features : The sails feature an integrated LED system that showcases the Union Jack on one side and act as a virtual billboard on the other to promote the best of Britain wherever it goes.

“Greta Thunberg has already agreed to come on board”  – Jenny Skoog

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The designer of Cunard liner Queen Mary 2, Stephen Payne, has drawn up plans for a £200million royal yacht that would promote British trade, tourism, youth and culture around the world.

Naval architect Stephen Payne, who has been working on the project for two years, says Britannia 2 would be a floating ‘Festival of Britain’ that could pay for itself by hiring out its conference hall and exhibition spaces during port visits.

At 475ft it would be 62ft longer than the original HMY Britannia and have a two-deck, 250-seat auditorium and a self-contained royal deck, as well as an on-board pub, restaurant, TV studio, museum and souvenir shop. There would be storage for a quayside “pop-up” marquee connected to the ship’s electrical supply.

The ambitious plans for a new national flagship, announced by the Prime Minister, would be named after the Duke of Edinburgh and help boost British trade.

Mr Payne said he sent an outline of his proposals to No.10 – but they were lost. He added: “What concerns me about Boris Johnson’s plan is the scale of what they’re proposing – I’m hoping they are not trying to do this on the cheap. Mine’s a fairly large ship, it might end up costing £300 million, but even then the payback time would be 20 years, so it would be cost neutral.”

The designer’s interest in building a second Britannia stems from his visits to the previous royal yacht in 1996 when he was advising a parliamentary committee on the ship, which is now a tourist attraction in Leith, Edinburgh.

Mr Payne said: “The driving force has been to provide a platform that could deliver all that Britannia did so well, with the significant upgrades of a conference and exhibition centre that could offset its build and operational costs.”

He wants the hybrid-powered royal yacht built at Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast and for it to become the first ever “dual flag” Royal and Merchant Navy vessel with a Royal Navy captain.

The 61-year-old has even drawn up a 328-day itinerary for the ship to visit 51 ports around the world. In times of emergency, Britannia 2 could have a secondary use as a floating hospital or disaster relief ship.

Mr Payne, from Hampshire, has impeccable credentials for the project. As well as designing Queen Mary 2, he has worked with the Ministry of Defence on studies into aircraft carriers.

As a five-year-old boy, his interest in naval design was sparked by an item on children’s TV programme Blue Peter about Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth.

At the age of 12, when the Blue Peter annual ran a feature saying “Queen Elizabeth is a superliner, the last of a great age and nothing will ever be built like her again”, he wrote complaining that this was not true as he was going to design and build just such a ship himself. Programme editor Biddy Baxter sent him a Blue Peter badge but warned that he “shouldn’t be disappointed if he never achieved his goal”.

Undeterred, Mr Payne graduated as a naval architect in 1984 and joined Carnival Cruise Line in London, where he helped design the Fantasy class of ships.

After visiting Britannia in 1996, he wrote articles on the history of the royal yacht which were edited by Prince Philip and published in The Naval Architect and Ships Monthly. However, plans for a successor ship were shelved by Tony Blair’s Labour government the following year.

Around the same time, James Cameron launched his movie blockbuster Titanic which – despite its dramatic ending – created a surge in demand for transatlantic voyages on Cunard’s then flagship, Queen Elizabeth 2. In 1998, new owners Carnival Corporation decided to invest in a new $1billion liner, Queen Mary 2, with 38-year-old Payne chosen to design the ship.

With its launch in 2004, his vow to build a superliner to rival Queen Elizabeth was fulfilled. Blue Peter presenters even came on board on the day of the maiden voyage to present him with the show’s top honour, a gold badge. Mr Payne was also made an OBE for services to shipping.

He said: “It is nearly 30 years – and a new century – since the last royal yacht was withdrawn and there has never been a greater need for the British Government to step up its support for UK industry as it seeks to sell its goods and services overseas.

“Recent events have also underlined the importance of the Royal Family to the country’s image abroad and the need to ensure that it can continue to make a positive contribution. Britannia 2 is designed to highlight that royal link to the UK’s fortunes by becoming a key part of a major economic recovery based on new and enhanced trade deals around the world.

“This multiple-role vessel will also showcase the best in British design and innovation. Building the ship at Harland & Wolff would mean that, everywhere it sailed, people will be witnessing the return of classic UK shipbuilding, even if they never step on board.”

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Will Britain Get a New Royal Yacht Named After Prince Philip?

Britannia served as a floating palace for 43 years. since his death last week, there have been calls for a new royal yacht named after the prince., michael verdon, michael verdon's most recent stories.

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After Prince Philip’s death last week, several British MPs and cabinet ministers are calling for a new royal yacht. The former Royal Yacht Britannia, which transported Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth on 968 state visits around the world for more than four decades, was retired in 1997. Sitting at a dock in Edinburgh, it’s one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, with more than 300,000 visitors each year.

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The call for a new royal yacht—which would be the 83rd royal vessel since the first was built for King Charles in 1660—started shortly after Royal Yacht Britannia was retired, with proponents arguing it would serve as more of a floating embassy than a luxury gigayacht. Since his death last week, the idea has gained momentum. According to The Telegraph , Prince Philip privately supported the idea, partly because of his long naval career, but also because of the 700,000 miles he had spent at sea on Britannia. The new royal yacht would be named HMY The Duke of Edinburgh in his honor.

MP Craig MacKinlay is heading a Westminster group backing the idea. “The towering figure that was the Duke of Edinburgh deserves a permanent tribute to his support for the country, the Commonwealth and the Queen,” MacKinlay said in a statement. “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.”

The new Britannia? Designer Andrew Winch’s vision of the new royal yacht.  Courtesy Winch Studios

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office, according to Downing Street insiders, called the yacht a “nice idea,” but said it would have to wait until lawmakers decide how to proceed with a new UK shipbuilding initiative that Johnson announced last year.

UK yacht designer Andrew Winch made drawings of the proposed replacement for Royal Britannia in 1997, but any notion of a new royal yacht was shelved by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose government was involved in severe cost-cutting measures.

The 492-foot royal yacht, as envisioned by Winch, is 80 feet longer and more modern than the 412-foot, and much more ship-like Britannia, which had a crew of 271, including 21 officers and 250 Royal Yachtsmen. Winch’s office released the old drawings of the new Britannia five years ago. “Our interior configuration for Britannia allows for the greatest flexibility so that the space is suitable for many purposes,” Winch said in 2016. “The interior design is timeless and understated—a showcase for the best of British craftsmanship and design, both traditional and contemporary.”

After traveling 1 million miles aboard the yacht for over 40 years, Queen Elizabeth is emotional at its 1997 retirement. Britannia’s clocks were stopped at 3:01 pm as the Queen stepped off the boat for the last time.  Wikipedia

Whether the yacht ever moves past being a “nice idea” into an actual build remains to be seen. Johnson, foreign secretary when the new drawings were released in 2016, said it “wasn’t a priority.”

The minister quoted by The Telegraph said the new yacht would have multiple functions.

“Britannia was built to be a hospital ship as well as a royal yacht,” he said. “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.”

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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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Boris Johnson plans to sink £200m into new ship of state

PM says national flagship, a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, would promote British trade and industry around the world

A new national flagship, the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, will promote British trade and industry around the world, Boris Johnson has said.

The vessel would be used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks as the UK seeks to build links and boost exports following Brexit. It would be the first national flagship since Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997, but the new vessel would be a ship rather than a luxury yacht.

A name for the vessel has not been announced, but Johnson has faced pressure from campaigners and Tory MPs to name it after the Duke of Edinburgh, who played a role in designing Britannia.

The government intends to build the ship in the UK, at a reported cost of up to £200m.

Johnson said: “This new national flagship will be the first vessel of its kind in the world, reflecting the UK’s burgeoning status as a great, independent maritime trading nation.”

After tendering for design and construction, it would begin being built as soon as 2022 and it enter service within the next four years. The ship would be crewed by the Royal Navy and is expected to be in service for around 30 years.

It is not the first time Johnson has expressed enthusiasm for the project. In 2017, he told the Commons that the commissioning of a new £100m yacht would attract “overwhelming support” if private backing to build it could be found.

The Labour shadow treasury chief secretary, Bridget Phillipson, said: “Right now our country faces huge challenges, and there’s no sign the government has a plan for the recovery.

“We want to see public money used for targeted investment in a green economic recovery, resources for our NHS, and supporting families to succeed.

“If this ship is going to be part of a genuine plan for Britain’s future, the government must set out clearly how it will boost trade, jobs and growth in every corner of our country.

“We’d want to see it built in Britain, supporting jobs and skills in shipyards here, and with a real focus on value for money at every stage.”

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New ‘Prince Philip’ Royal Yacht is set to cost £200 million – and people aren’t impressed

Twitter users have shared their fury at the ship’s £200m price tag

Plans for a new royal yacht in memory of the late Duke of Edinburgh is due to be “commissioned within weeks,” according to reports.

The ship, which is expected to cost £200 million and be named HMS Prince Philip , will succeed the Royal Yacht Britannia , which was decommissioned in 1997.

The news comes after a number of Tory MPs voiced their support for a naval tribute to the Queen’s beloved husband, who passed away last month aged 99.

“The Duke of Edinburgh was well known for his love of Britannia,” Former Northern Powerhouse minister Jake Berry told The Sunday Telegraph. “It is a fitting tribute to now create a new royal yacht named the Duke of Edinburgh in his memory and for the Queen.”

But not everyone agrees.

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News that the yacht looks set to get the go-ahead hasn’t floated many Twitter users’ boats, with many insisting the seven-figures needed to pay for the memorial could be better spent:

Boris Johnson will formally announce plans for the national flagship over the coming weeks, according to The Sunday Telegraph .

It reports that the new ship will be the first official Government commemoration to Prince Philip and will be crewed by the Royal Navy.

The announcement – named Project Leith, after the Edinburgh area where the original HMY Britannia is moored – has reportedly been delayed by a row over whether the Ministry of Defence or Cabinet Office should pay for the ship.

Senior Government sources told the paper that the new royal yacht would promote British businesses overseas by sailing all over the world promoting UK interests.

It could also be used to host members of the Royal family on overseas visits, as well as diplomatic summits and talks.

However, it looks as though the Government may have to weather the storm of public opinion first.

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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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UK Navy to buy six vessels, enter new ‘golden age’ of shipbuilding

BERLIN — The British Royal Navy plans to buy up to six new multirole support ships and give its future frigates the ability to attack land-based targets, the defense secretary announced Tuesday.

The offensive capability comes as the military learns lessons from recent operations in the Red and Black seas, Grant Shapps noted, with the former involving a fight against Yemen-based Houthi militants and the latter related to the nearby war in Ukraine. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbor in February 2022.

In full, the service is seeking 28 new ships to turn the tide on a shrinking fleet, Shapps said at the Sea Power conference in London. The 2017 National Shipbuilding Strategy first formalized the goal, which the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson refreshed in 2022.

Under the strategy, the U.K. seeks to become “the world’s most competitive maritime nation by 2050,” Sarah Kenny, then-chair of the industry association Maritime UK, said at the time.

The push to build new ships also comes a month after the current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, announced a £75 billion (U.S. $94 billion) increase in defense spending over the next six years, raising British military expenditures to 2.5% of gross domestic product amid an economy just beginning to recover from a recession and struggling with stubbornly elevated inflation rates.

Shipyards across the U.K. are sure to be abuzz in the years to come, as Shapps pledged to have the new entrances to the Royal Navy constructed domestically during a new “golden age” for British shipbuilding. Type 26 and 31 frigates will be built in Scotland; Astute and Dreadnought submarines assembled in Barrow-in-Furness in northwestern England; and fleet solid support ships produced in Belfast and Devon, the service stated in a news release Tuesday.

The six multirole support ships for the Royal Marines are to be versatile platforms that can carry aircraft, vehicles, insertion craft and unmanned systems. They are also expected to serve as mobile infirmaries to treat battlefield casualties. They are set to replace all of the Royal Navy’s current amphibious support ships in the early 2030s.

Meanwhile, the newly built Type 26 and 31 frigates will feature land-attack capabilities, Shapps said, following a recent trend among European blue-water navies. The Netherlands previously announced it will equip four of its frigates with Tomahawk missiles between 2025 and 2029, and France recently conducted a synchronized test-firing of naval cruise missiles from a ship and a submarine about 250 miles apart.

“Our operations in the Red Sea have proven that to meet the rising threats to freedom of navigation we must be able to destroy targets at sea, in the air and on land,” Shapps wrote on X shortly after announcing the addition of the weapons systems.

To support the upcoming “golden age” of British shipbuilding, there would need to be a “very big expansion” in domestic capacity, Shapps said.

As part of this, the Royal Navy is negotiating with BAE Systems to sell to the company the HMS Argyll, a Type 23 Duke-class frigate that has already served for twice as long as initially intended, to the company. The aim, Shapps said, is to establish a shipbuilding academy in Scotland where attendees can use the vessel for training.

Defense readiness has received new urgency from the British government in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There, British weapons have contributed to significant battlefield victories for Kyiv, including reportedly sinking Russian ships in the Black Sea.

Linus Höller is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He covers international security and military developments across the continent. Linus holds a degree in journalism, political science and international studies, and is currently pursuing a master’s in nonproliferation and terrorism studies.

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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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UK confirms it will build six new warships for Royal Marines

LONDON - British defence minister Grant Shapps said he would order up to six new warships for the Royal Marines, as the government starts to indicate where a recently announced rise in defence spending will be directed.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in April that he would lift defence spending to 2.5% of GDP a year by 2030, saying the British arms industry must be on a "war footing" when the world is at its most dangerous since the Cold War.

Shapps said on Tuesday that the new vessels, known as Multi Role Support Ships, will be built in Britain and will help strengthen Britain's amphibious special operations commando force for the battles of the future.

The government had said in 2022 it would build new ships for the Royal Marines.

"It's something we're now able to do because the money's been pledged to defence," Shapps told the BBC.

He will speak at the Sea Power Conference in central London later on Tuesday, where he will also say that two current Royal Marine assault ships, HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, will not be scrapped or mothballed before their planned out of service dates in 2033-2034.

The six new vessels are part of a programme of 28 ships and submarines being built or in the pipeline for Britain's Navy, which Shapps said represented "a new Golden Age for British shipbuilding".

BAE Systems, Britain's biggest military contractor, and another UK defence company, Babcock, are amongst the companies involved in building those 28 ships. REUTERS

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UK to get at least 25 new warships due to defence spending rise - Shapps

The defence secretary said 22 ships are "already in the system" and committed to three new ships for the Royal Marines, with the possibility of three more.

Political reporter @alixculbertson

Tuesday 14 May 2024 12:13, UK

The Royal Navy will get 25 new warships - and could get three more - as the government indicates where its planned rise in defence spending will go.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News there are 28 new ships and submarines in the design or construction stage at the moment for the UK's armed forces.

He said 22 ships are "already in the system" - but there is less clarity over six new warships he announced for the Royal Marines today.

The defence secretary said that the government is committing to three of the new "versatile" ships for the Marines, "and then possibly another three as well". He later said the final three are "in the design phase".

He also announced two of the ships being built - type 26 and 31 frigates - will be equipped with land-attack missiles so they will be capable of attacking targets on shore.

Mr Shapps said this is a "very, very large shipbuilding programme, a lot of warships, the golden era of shipbuilding here".

He added: "It's all possible because just last month we agreed as a government to spend 2.5% of our GDP on our defence sector because we think it's very, very important to make sure that those who would seek to do us harm are put off, that they are dissuaded because they can see that we're serious about our defence."

Labour has pledged to reach 2.5% of GDP on defence spending when economic conditions allow it, while the Conservatives have said they would reach that number by 2030 .

But defence spending fell in the early years of the Conservative government, which has been in power for 14 years, and spending was not boosted when Ukraine was invaded in 2014 or 2022.

Mr Shapps said the Tory pledge is different to Labour's because the Conservatives have "set out a timeline".

"We've also said how we would go about largely funding this, and that's by reducing the size of the civil service, which is much bigger than it was before COVID," he said.

"We want to get it back down to the size it was before and use that money to spend on defence.

"I have to say, as defence secretary, with everything that I know in this role, that I think that the Labour position presents a danger to this country because it will send a signal to our adversaries that we're not serious about our defence if we won't set out that timetable."

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Labour's shadow work and pensions minister Alison McGovern said she is "sceptical" about the Conservatives' claim about how they will fund the spending rise.

She said Labour has had to pledge the rise for when the economy allows "because of what the Conservative Party have done to our economy" - as she accused Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak of implementing "big unfunded tax cuts".

Ms McGovern added: "I think everybody would expect Rachel Reeves as the shadow chancellor to say, well, we will make our plans when we've got access to all of the books, all of the details of Ministry of Defence spending."

Mr Shapps said the government did not spend as much on defence previously because countries such as China, North Korea, Iran and Russia were not such a threat.

The defence secretary added: "We were living in very, very different times."

He said the government has also added £24bn to the defence budget over the past couple of years and the UK is "by a country mile the largest spender on defence in Europe, with the second largest in NATO after only the US".

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Discussing the UK's current fleet, Mr Shapps said sister ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are due to come out of service in 2033-2034 but the defence secretary said they will not be scrapped before that.

Albion and Bulwark are currently used as the Royal Navy's landing platform docks to transport the Royal Marines.

Mr Shapps also announced HMS Argyll and HMS Westminster, two frigates with a combined service of 63 years, are to be retired, with HMS Argyll sold to BAE Systems to be used to support apprentice shipbuilder training.

The new ships being built include Type 26 and Type 31 frigates in Scotland, Astute and Dreadnought submarines in Barrow-in-Furness, and Fleet Solid Support ships in Belfast and Devon.

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King Charles III Names Prince William Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps, Prince Harry's Old Squadron

K ing Charles III has passed on the baton of colonel-in-chief of the Army Air Corps to one of his sons - but it's not the one with ties to the service. At a ceremony on May 13, 2024, the British monarch named William, Prince of Wales to the role, in a decision that many view as a "snub" toward Charles' youngest son.

The Army Air Corps is the aviation branch of the British Army. It was first formed during the Second World War , as a separate entity to the Royal Air Force, and was disbanded in 1949. It was reformed in 1957, with its primary role being to provide aerial support to troops on the ground

King Charles III was named the colonel-in-chief of the branch 32 years ago. In, 2023, he announced that Prince William would be taking over the role in the new year.

William has a history with the British military, serving as a platoon commander with the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons). He'd joined as a cornet in 2006, alongside his brother. Before long, he'd embarked on flight training with the Royal Air Force and, upon the completion of his training, served as a search and rescue pilot at RAF Valley for three years.

The handing-over ceremony took place at the Army Aviation Centre and Army Flying Museum in Middle Wallop, Hampshire. In an impromptu speech , King Charles III spoke about the Army Air Corps' efforts during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan , as well as his hopes for the service under his son's purview.

"I do hope you'll go from strength-to-strength with the Prince of Wales as your new Commander-in-Chief," he said. "I can't tell you how proud it has made me to have been involved with you all this time."

The ruling British monarch also joked that his son was a "very good pilot indeed," adding, "So that's encouraging."

To show the transfer of power, King Charles III handed Prince William the belt and beret of the Army Air Corps. Upon receiving the items, he officially became the commander-in-chief of the service, which is home to the No. 662 Squadron AAC, with whom his brother had served.

After taking over the role, William was immediately given his first job, receiving a briefing on the Army Air Corps' work today. At the end of the important occasion, he boarded a Boeing AH-64 Apache and embarked on a capability flight, during which he was shown the helicopter's technology and told more about the pilots charged with manning the aircraft.

No mention was made of Prince Harry , Duke of Sussex, who flew the Apache on two tours of Afghanistan and served as an officer in the British Army for 10 years. By the time he'd exited the service, he'd risen to the rank of Apache helicopter commander. In a nod to his abilities, the British Defence Ministry in 2012 named Harry the best front-seat pilot out of his class of 20.

Many discussing the ceremony have noted the strained relationship Harry has with his family - in particular, his brother. A royal expert also told FOX News that the transfer of power to Prince William and not Harry is a "cruel snub."

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Along with presenting Prince William with the honor, the ceremony also saw King Charles III unveil a commemorative plaque honoring the arrival of the first Apache Mk. 1 at the museum.

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These Butlers Are Neither Carson Nor Hudson

The rise of “executive butlers” — a breed whose job combines silver polishing with being a concierge and a maitre d’ — reflects the changing nature of the very rich.

Graeme Currie at Weston Park, where he served as head butler for a decade. These days, he said, being a butler requires “sparkle, darling, sparkle.” Credit... Billy Barraclough for The New York Times

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By Plum Sykes

Plum Sykes reported this story from her home in Britain’s Cotswolds region. She has written about society for magazines and in several novels.

• May 14, 2024

In Britain’s bucolic Cotswolds region, the arrival of summer is typically marked by a migration. Specifically, the return of a rarefied group to grand country houses in counties like Oxfordshire or Gloucestershire, where preparations begin for a season of hosting guests at picnics, luncheons and events like the Chelsea Flower Show , the Royal Ascot horse races and “the tennis” — shorthand for a center court box at Wimbledon .

Owners of those country estates — let’s call them the one percent of the one percent — of course do not handle such preparations themselves. These are relegated to butlers, whose job, like for others associated with the lifestyles of the ultrawealthy, has evolved.

As personal assistants have been rebranded as executive assistants and child care providers as executive nannies, buttling has become a career that involves not only polishing silver and folding napkins but also lifestyle management.

The modern butler — also known as, wait for it, an executive butler — is still in most cases a man. But he is no longer a grandfatherly type in morning trousers that stays in the background, if not out of sight. More likely, he is fresh-faced, wears a lounge suit with a Charvet tie and is by his employers’ side whether they are at home or not.

“They’re like a private maitre d’ now,” said Nicky Haslam, 84, the English interior designer and social fixture. “In the old days the butler was in the house all the time. Now, if the family is on their yacht, the butler goes with them.”

This was not the case as recently as the 1990s, when butlers for the most part reflected the archetype popularized by characters like Hudson, from the TV show “Upstairs, Downstairs”; Carson , from “Downton Abbey”; or Stevens, from Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel “The Remains of the Day.”

Among that ilk was Michael Kenneally, a mischievous Irish butler employed for decades by my cousin, Sir Tatton Sykes , at his country estate, Sledmere , in the county of Yorkshire.

His antics were legendary. If children were visiting, he would sometimes accessorize his formal uniform with a curly-haired wig or glasses with plastic eyeballs on springs. His pièce de résistance was riding through the dining room after dinner on a bicycle with a port tray balanced on the handlebars, a trick that was noted in his obituary in The Telegraph. When he died at 65 in 1999, his funeral drew a crowd of about 300 people, and he was buried alongside members of the family that had employed him for 40 years. On the headstone marking his grave, the epitaph simply read “The Butler.”

The profession’s evolution in recent decades is a signifier of a societal shift in Britain: What rich people want has changed because who rich people are has changed.

That group’s makeup has shifted from being primarily aristocratic families, the type long associated with traditional butlers, to include a new breed of self-made, high-net-worth individuals who have built fortunes in industries like technology and media and who see butlers less as part of the furniture and more as a flashy accessory.

Graeme Currie, 53, exemplifies the modern butler, a role that he said requires “sparkle, darling, sparkle.” He has been employed by some of Britain’s highest-profile families and was the head butler for 10 years at Weston Park, an estate in the county of Staffordshire that is the ancestral home of the Earl of Bradford and can now be booked for private events.

This summer Mr. Currie — who has tawny hair and, often, a light tan — is planning to travel to various destinations in Europe to buttle at vacation houses. In his spare time, he breeds toy poodles, some of which have competed at dog shows like Crufts .

Mr. Currie is the sort of person who can whip up an espresso martini blindfolded and comprehend the precise level of froth someone might prefer for a coconut-milk cappuccino. He developed such skills in part from a career in hospitality that has included jobs on the Queen Elizabeth 2 ocean liner and at ritzy London hotels like the Dorchester and Claridge’s and restaurants like the Ivy.

“The difference between me and an old-fashioned butler is that I’ve had the experience of people paying for dinner and of always being critiqued,” Mr. Currie said.

Seasoned butlers like him can make around 100,000 British pounds a year, or about $125,000. The job’s starting salary is closer to 40,000 pounds, or $50,000.

For butlers with full-time positions, various costs — food, lodging, even fancy uniforms — are subsidized by employers. And those who work in Europe are typically afforded the same mandatory benefits granted to other workers, like a minimum of 20 vacation days. Many develop schedules with their employers that include regular time off on the weekend or midweek to account for other days when they are expected to work long hours.

Mr. Currie was drawn to the profession for a reason that many butlers are: He is passionate about taking care of people.

“One thing I always say is that I’m very good at remembering who people are and what they want,” he said. “You’ve got to have a whole repertoire in your brain because people ask for things they have never asked for before.”

That repertoire can vary wildly depending on a butler’s location, said Niels Deijkers, the managing director of the International Butler Academy in Simpelveld, the Netherlands.

Mr. Deijkers recalled a story he had heard from an executive butler who was with a family on a yacht. “The client pointed toward the coastline and said, ‘Tonight I’d like to have dinner on top of that mountain — please arrange it,’” he said, explaining that the butler contacted a restaurant in the area, which “set up a table for six and flew in everything with a helicopter.” (Mr. Deijkers estimated that the dinner cost “around $300,000.”)

Andrew Gruselle, 53, has encountered similar demands in his time working on Lamu Island , off the coast of Kenya, where he has managed grand beachfront properties with staffs that have included cooks, housekeepers and pool attendants.

In his typical uniform of loose cotton shirt and seersucker Bermuda shorts, Mr. Gruselle has performed a range of duties: serving trays of fresh mango or papaya for breakfast; arranging water-skiing excursions; recommending fabric shops; securing reservations at the Peponi Hotel, a Lamu hot spot; and wrangling six donkeys to stage a makeshift Nativity scene at Christmas.

“When someone comes out here,” he said, “you have to be very careful that they are looked after properly, and that it’s a seamless experience for them.”

Carole Bamford, 78, expects nothing less of the head butler at Daylesford House, her country estate in Gloucestershire, one of several homes she resides at with her husband, Anthony Bamford, the billionaire owner of the British construction company JCB.

Events held at Daylesford House by the couple, known formally as Lord and Lady Bamford, are among the most coveted invitations in the Cotswolds. This spring Lady Bamford, who is the founder of Daylesford Organic , a popular British lifestyle brand, hosted various lunches with themes inspired by plants grown on the estate like snowdrops and tulips.

Leading the preparations for those lunches was, yes, Daylesford House’s head butler, whose résumé reflects those of traditional butlers, in that he has been with the Bamfords for more than 20 years.

“He was with the queen for about eight years before me,” Lady Bamford said.

But his job also involves many duties expected of modern butlers, too.

Lady Bamford recalled a recent lunch where the menu included lamb, purple sprouting broccoli, a cheese board, panna cotta and rhubarb bellinis.

“Who makes the bellinis?’” I asked.

“Well, the butler,” she said.

Susan Beachy contributed research.

Plum Sykes is the author of “Bergdorf Blondes,” “The Debutante Divorcée,” “Party Girls Die in Pearls” and the just released “Wives Like Us.”

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