royal yacht plans revealed

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£250m design for King Charles’ scrapped superyacht unveiled

London-based firm reveals their proposal for now-scrapped project, article bookmarked.

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The £250m design for King Charles’ superyacht that was scrapped last year has been unveiled.

Plans for the 125-metre Royal Yacht Britannia were previously confidential but have now been published by London-based firm Vitruvius Yachts.

The superyacht was initially set to sail by 2025, but in October last year it was reported chancellor Jeremy Hunt was planning on scrapping the plans as part of a package of spending cuts.

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NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

This is what a £250,000,000 superyacht for King Charles could have looked like

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A design for King Charles’ zero carbon multi-million-pound superyacht that was scrapped last year has been unveiled.

London-based firm Vitruvius Yachts revealed plans for their previously confidential proposal for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

When the British government invited concepts for a new National Flagship vessel, the company was shortlisted as a finalist in the design competition.

Their 125-metre yacht had been in the running for the £250m project, which would have seen it set sail by 2025.

The new Britannia concept is described as a ‘celebration of British society and technology in a vessel designed for the people but fit for a king.’

However, it was reported last year that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was planning to scrap plans for a new yacht as part of a package of spending cuts.

The plan had been put forward by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister but he faced criticism from MPs at a time when there were other priorities for spending.

The previous Royal Yacht Britannia had been used by the Royal Family since its commissioning in 1954.

US Presidents who had boarded included Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.

Famously, Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales, took their honeymoon cruise on Britannia in 1981.

The new design comes from Team FestivAl, a collaboration between Vitruvius Yachts, world-renowned architecture practice Zaha Hadid Architects, and aluminium ship and yacht specialists Ocea.

Vitruvius say key features include a focus on sustainable power and propulsion.

The highly efficient hull design minimises fuel consumption and maximises opportunities for emerging green technologies to create a zero-carbon vessel.

The interior is based on recycled and recyclable materials, and a flexible deck and interior design can switch between exhibition showcase or floating embassy with ease, ‘suitable for everyone from VVIPs to schoolchildren and the disabled’.

The sleek exterior profile includes a distinctive central slice through the superstructure that takes the form of a hoop of glass, flooding the interior with light and providing a key design element that, combined with a distinct LED-lit style line in the profile, hints at the ribbon pattern in the Union flag. This is reinforced in the design when viewed from above.

The vessel features an energy-agnostic propulsion system based on efficient pod drives, which can also enable geostationary position-keeping without damaging sensitive seabeds with an anchor.

Power for the pod drives would come from a large battery bank that could be charged via shore power or onboard generators, initially using renewable diesel/biofuel but allowing for alternative energy sources now and in the future including green hydrogen fuel cells and onboard-harvested solar and wind energy.

Team FestivAl’s National Flagship explain their project draws on several cultural and societal cues, ‘from innovation and sustainability to accessibility and inclusion, to represent the very best of British in design, manufacturing, craftsmanship and diversity’.

The firm say: ‘Indeed, in developing the design, the essence of Britishness takes centre stage through a Union flag ribbon motif in the side and plan view elevations, while reflecting the multicultural society that defines the UK today. ‘

Philippe Briand comments: ‘To design a vessel – a flagship – that will become a benchmark in sustainability as well as demonstrating British excellence and heritage for current and future generations, while also being a symbol of inclusion and diversity, was an enormous challenge that kept me awake at night.

‘The nature and intensity of the project kept me focused but also filled me with pride, not just in the design process itself but for what the flagship stands for.’

He added: ‘The flagship collaboration was an incredible opportunity to act as an architect realising the design of a project that was hugely complex, because it aims to represent not the tastes of one person but the essence of an entire nation.

‘That is actually way more difficult than designing for even the most demanding individual.’

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Inside secret £250m royal super yacht designed for King Charles

Concept pictures of the vessel designed to replace the beloved royal yacht britannia have been released., royal yacht provides ‘a soft-power prestige’ says raab in 2021.

London-based firm Vitruvius Yachts unveiled the design they created for a national flagship vessel set to replace the beloved but long-decommissioned Royal Yacht Britannia. The proposal, which had remained tightly under wraps for months, had granted the firm a place among the finalists in the design competition previously launched by the UK Government. Spearheaded by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, the competition saw companies submitting their concept for a new £250million national flagship vessel.

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Given his decades-long campaigning on sustainability and the protection of the environment, similar features would have surely delighted King Charles.

The themes of sustainability and minimised waste are translated also inside the yacht, as its interior is based on recycled and recyclable materials.

The concept yacht's flexible deck and interior design have been thought to make the vessel easily adaptable to every occasion, making it a perfect location for an exhibition showcase as well as for a floating embassy.

The concept also drew on several cultural and societal cues, "from innovation and sustainability to accessibility and inclusion, to represent the very best of British in design, manufacturing, craftsmanship and diversity", as stated by the team creating the design.

The exterior of this concept design gives a nod at the innate Britishness of the national flagship vessel, as its sleek white, blue and red profile includes a LED-lit style line hinting at the ribbon pattern in the Union Jack.

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The new design was created by Team FestivAI, a collaboration between Vitruvius Yachts, world-renowned architecture practice Zaha Hadid Architects and aluminium ship and yacht specialists Ocea.

Vitrivius Yachts’ Philippe Briand - a leading yacht designer and naval architect - spearheaded the team.

Speaking of the concept, Vitrivius Yachts said: "Indeed, in developing the design, the essence of Britishness takes centre stage through a Union flag ribbon motif in the side and plan view elevations, while reflecting the multicultural society that defines the UK today."

Philippe Briand also commented: "To design a vessel – a flagship – that will become a benchmark in sustainability as well as demonstrating British excellence and heritage for current and future generations, while also being a symbol of inclusion and diversity, was an enormous challenge that kept me awake at night.

"The nature and intensity of the project kept me focused but also filled me with pride, not just in the design process itself but for what the flagship stands for."

He added: "The flagship collaboration was an incredible opportunity to act as an architect realising the design of a project that was hugely complex, because it aims to represent not the tastes of one person but the essence of an entire nation.

"That is actually way more difficult than designing for even the most demanding individual."

Former Prime Ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss championed the creation of a new national flagship vessel, which was to be paid for by the Ministry of Defence, as announced in June 2021.

However, their enthusiasm was dampened by a number of MPs speaking against the allocation of millions to this project.

The Royal Family also signalled they did not want a new royal yacht, with a source telling The Times in May 2021: "It is not something we have asked for".

The Palace also sank the Government's plan to name the new Britannia after Prince Philip.

Members of the British public also seemed to be overwhelmingly against the project, with a YouGov poll carried out between April 13 and 14 2021 suggesting 47 percent of the 1689 British adults surveyed were against replacing the Britannia.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was officially launched by the late Queen in 1953, just weeks before her Coronation.

After being used by Firm members for official trips, receptions, state visits, honeymoons and private holidays, it was decommissioned in 1997.

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Zaha Hadid Architects shares its conceptual design for the abandoned British Royal Yacht

Although plans for the Royal Yacht are all at sea, ZHA, Jason Bruges Studio, Vitruvius Yachts and OCEA conjured up a contemporary vision for this very traditional role

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Time was when a new Royal yacht – for the British Royal Family – seemed like a rather good idea. Hailed as a miracle wheeze for boosting heavy industrial and craft-level jobs as well as re-gilding the rather tarnished Royal image, calls for a replacement for HMY Britannia started almost immediately after the 83rd Royal yacht was retired and decommissioned in December 1997. 

This proposal from Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), designed in collaboration with Philippe Briand and Veerle Battiau’s Vitruvius Yachts, was one of four entries into a design competition for a new national flagship. ZHA and Vitruvius collaborated with Jason Bruges Studio and French boat builder OCEA to form Team FestivAl.

British Royal yacht concept: what might have been

This was not ZHA's first foray into naval architecture. Back in 2013, the company worked on a suite of six yacht designs for the German shipyard Blohm + Voss , and last year it unveiled a conceptual catamaran design, the Oneiric in collaboration with the Italian superyacht builder Rossinavi.

Britannia worked hard over its 44-year career, travelling over a million nautical miles to 135 countries during nearly 700 official trips. The retirement of the familiar Royal Blue hull caused a certain amount of lament amongst royalists, although proposals for a successor played up the historic ship’s role as an ambassador for the UK, not just a handy holiday spot for the Royal Family. 

In mid-2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans for a new £200m Royal yacht, tentatively named after the late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Within a few weeks, this grand scheme was being hastily pedalled back and any ideas for a ‘new national flagship’ were conclusively canned in November 2022 (a former palace source tweeted, ‘[the Royal Family] never wanted or even asked for a replacement’).

ZHA’s involvement will therefore remain an intriguing footnote in this stalled venture. The 125m yacht would have had a sustainable, zero-emission propulsion system and an emphasis on a multi-role mission, capable of transforming from an ‘exhibition showcase or floating embassy … suitable for everyone from VVIPs to schoolchildren and the disabled.’ 

Although interior designs weren’t revealed, the plans were said to include a wealth of recycled materials, including a recycled aluminium hull, and a large central atrium. This is hinted at in the hull designs, with fluid lines running from the near vertical prow and stern, rising up to frame a large window above a ceremonial entranceway and ramp. Jason Bruges Studio proposed a lighting sculpture that illuminated the hull and projected images onto the surrounding waster.

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The three other finalist teams in the abandoned competition included Team Harland & Wolff, featuring naval architect Stephen Payne with Clifford Denn Design, Team New Flagship Company led and funded by advertising entrepreneur Ian Maiden, bringing together Mark Whiteley Design and ThirtyC Yacht Design, and Team Signal, including superyacht industry veterans Bannenberg & Rowell Design alongside engineering specialists Houlder.

Zaha Hadid Architects, Zaha-Hadid.com

Jason Bruges Studio, JasonBruges.com

Vitruvius Yachts, VitruviusYachts.com

OCEA Shipbuilding, OCEA.fr

Jonathan Bell has written for Wallpaper* magazine since 1999, covering everything from architecture and transport design to books, tech and graphic design. He is now the magazine’s Transport and Technology Editor. Jonathan has written and edited 15 books, including Concept Car Design, 21st Century House, and The New Modern House. He is also the host of Wallpaper’s first podcast.

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‘Confidential’ design for scrapped Royal Yacht revealed

Thursday, January 19th, 2023

Written by: Marine Industry News

London-based superyacht design firm Vitruvius Yachts has revealed details of its design for the Royal Yacht Britannia — a national flagship that was scrapped after being dubbed a Boris Johnson “vanity project” .

The British government invited several firms to submit designs for a new flagship yacht, which would have replaced the former Royal Yacht Britannia. Construction on the £250m vessel was due to begin this year, with the boat to hit the water in 2024 or 2025.

While details of the 19 shortlisted companies have not been confirmed, the Telegraph reported in May that the final two teams of designers left in the contest were a consortium led by Houlder Ltd — the firm behind RRS Sir David Attenborough; and Harland & Wolff, best-known for building White Star Line’s ocean liners, including the Titanic. Neither firm has so far showcased its design.

Vitruvius Yachts and its collaborative team, called Team FestivAl, have now revealed their concept for a “highly technological” 125-metre superyacht that was one of those shortlisted as a finalist in the design competition.

In a statement, Team FestivAl says: “With the government deciding to halt the project, the team is showcasing their previously confidential proposal, highlighting not only the ingenuity of their design but also throwing a spotlight on the extraordinary depth and diversity of British industry and society, amply reflected in the design itself.”

Team FestivAl is a collaboration between Vitruvius Yachts, renowned architecture practice Zaha Hadid Architects, and aluminium ship and yacht specialists Ocea. The plans reveal key features including a focus on sustainable power and propulsion, an efficient hull design, and a flexible deck and interior design that can switch between exhibition showcase or “floating embassy”.

Spearheaded by Vitrivius Yachts’ Philippe Briand – one of the world’s leading yacht designers and a naval architect for both sail and motor yachts – Team FestivAl says its national flagship project draws on several cultural and societal cues, from innovation and sustainability to accessibility and inclusion, to represent the “very best of British” in design, manufacturing, craftsmanship and diversity.

“To design a vessel – a flagship – that will become a benchmark in sustainability as well as demonstrating British excellence and heritage for current and future generations, while also being a symbol of inclusion and diversity, was an enormous challenge that kept me awake at night,” says Philippe Briand. “The nature and intensity of the project kept me focused but also filled me with pride, not just in the design process itself but for what the flagship stands for.”

The technical elements of Team FestivAl’s national flagship project are said to centre on sound naval architecture and clever superstructure design. The result is a vessel that is both highly efficient in the water – with designs claiming 30 per cent less hydrodynamic drag than a conventional steel ship – and also in the air, with a drag coefficient of just 0.28 — less than most cars.

The design would have been built in recycled aluminium (the ‘Al’ in ‘Team FestivAl’), which is lighter than steel and therefore reduces the power required for propulsion, which in turn reduces emissions. Indeed, Team FestivAl conducted a study with the non-profit Water Revolution Foundation in conjunction with the University of Bologna which found that the hull and superstructure design, over a lifecycle of 30 years, would emit 30 per cent fewer greenhouse gases than a conventional design.

Power for the pod drives would have come from a large battery bank that could be charged via shore power or onboard generators, initially using renewable diesel/biofuel but allowing for alternative energy sources now and in the future including green hydrogen fuel cells and onboard-harvested solar and wind energy.

The exterior profile includes a distinctive central slice through the superstructure that takes the form of a hoop of glass, flooding the interior with light and providing a key design element that, combined with a distinct LED-lit style line in the profile, hints at the ribbon pattern in the Union flag. This is reinforced in the design when viewed from above.

At night, the LED-tile ribbon and lighting scheme developed by Jason Bruges Studio turns the vessel into a lighting sculpture that projects the Union flag, reflected in the water. The lighting scheme also allows for messages to be displayed, and for lighting to be matched to a given theme or location.

Central to the vessel’s design is accessibility for all across all decks and areas. The wraparound glass of the atrium provides a sense of light and space while delivering plenty of natural light for the visually impaired. Access routes throughout the vessel have been considered with people of all ages and all levels of ability or disability in mind.

The plans show that the interior spaces themselves have been developed around a need for flexibility of use and purpose, from national showcase and exhibition space to state dinners and private receptions. These include a large aft formal dining room that can be configured in multiple ways; a greeting/bar area with breakout rooms, and moveable partitions that allow for quick switching between operational modes; and a modular mission bay in the aft end of the vessel that can be used for trade show demonstrations, storage of additional equipment or humanitarian supplies and modular medical facilities, a modular science lab or extra accommodation or office space.

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

Team FestivAl says its national flagship was “more than just a design exercise – it is a celebration of the UK as a vibrant and inclusive multicultural society, as a hotbed of design, engineering and manufacturing, and as a nation with a rich seafaring heritage and a world-leading future as a developer of sustainable technologies.”

In November, former business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg said Johnson’s plans for a new flagship were not in the “realms of reality” and suggested it was a “glorious distraction” that should be scrapped, given the UK’s cost of living crisis.

After the plans were scrapped, the  Mirror  quoted defence secretary Ben Wallace saying: “The MoD has not assumed any liability for costs incurred by bidders in the design competition. And no design or manufacturing contracts have been placed.”

The former Royal Yacht Britannia — decommissioned in 1997 — is currently open to tourists in Leith, Edinburgh.

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6 responses to “‘Confidential’ design for scrapped Royal Yacht revealed”

Hideous waste of money and a disgusting vanity project by a corrupt and tawdry conservative government who need to be booted out of power so they cannot waste more taxpayer money. Good to hear it’s scrapped.

Shame about the decision not to go ahead in principle, but thank goodness we’ve been spared the humiliation of a vessel that looks like that.

Brittannia earned us millions and millions over the years and should never have been laid up. I agree with your comments regarding the government but I would welcome a replacement Brittania.

King Charles is one of the richest human beings on this planet. If he wants a Yacht he’d can buy one!

Been a great opportunity to show off Britain’s fast diversity of Craftsman and products it’s a shame it’s not going ahead but never say no let’s keep our fingers crossed

King Charles is not one of the richest human on the planet, because most of his perceived wealth actually belongs to the state. As to the construction of a replacement royal yacht, why not?, it would bring much needed prestige to Great Britain. The cost is minimal in the greater scale of things, shall we say compared to money spent on illegal immigrants to the detriment of our own indigenous homeless citizens.

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A New Royal Yacht Is Coming

• By Phil Draper
• January 7, 2022

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

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

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

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

But what defines a royal yacht?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Floating History

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

The First Royal Yacht

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

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

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

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The 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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Boris Johnson told to scrap 'vanity' project after admission new national yacht could cost £250m

The PM wants a new national yacht, the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, to sail the globe hosting trade talks, ministerial summits and diplomatic discussions - but Labour tells him to ditch the project.

Political reporter @GregHeffer

Thursday 29 July 2021 17:40, UK

Boris Johnson has been accused of losing control of his "vanity yacht" after it was revealed a new national flagship could cost up to a quarter of a billion pounds.

The prime minister wants a new national yacht, the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, to sail the globe hosting trade talks, ministerial summits and diplomatic discussions.

The cost of the new yacht has previously been reported to be around £150m to £200m.

But, speaking in Greenwich, south London, on Wednesday, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said even more taxpayers' cash could be required to build the "floating embassy".

"There has been a lot of reporting around this ship. Not all of it accurate," he said.

"So let me set out our basic aims. Subject to working through bids, competition and technology, I aim to commission the ship for between £200m and £250m on a firm price."

It has previously been confirmed the cash for building the new national flagship will come from the Ministry of Defence budget , despite the plan for it to be used for trade rather than defence purposes.

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Mr Wallace, speaking at a National Flagship Engagement Day, said he wanted the vessel to be "British made" with a "British led design, built by British hands".

The defence secretary also outlined his aim to announce a winning bid in December, with construction to begin as early as 2022 and to "have a ship in the water by 2024 or 2025".

However, Labour called on the government to ditch the plans.

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds claimed the prime minister had "lost control of his vanity yacht".

"It is absolutely staggering that costs have rocketed by £100m in a week," he said.

"Labour would scrap the government's latest pet project and invest taxpayers' money wisely to tackle crime and the surge in antisocial behaviour under this Conservative government."

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The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched by The Queen in 1953 and was retired in 1997 after completing 44 years of service.

The new national flagship is expected to be in service for around 30 years and will be crewed by the Royal Navy.

The yacht's name is yet to be announced, but reports have suggested it will pay homage to the Duke of Edinburgh who was Lord High Admiral from 2011 until his death earlier this year, and served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Speaking earlier on Wednesday, Mr Johnson described the planned new vessel as "somewhere where the UK can show itself off to the world and attract investment and that will drive jobs and growth in the UK, not just in shipbuilding but across every sector of the UK".

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

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

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

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

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

"In the face of the Russian illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and Putin's reckless disregard of international arrangements designed to keep world order, it is right that we prioritise delivering capabilities which safeguard our national infrastructure," he said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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King Charles’ New Yacht (Almost)

The British royal family has gotten a lot of attention in the U.S. and the English-speaking world lately, with millions of us glued to our screens to watch Queen Elizabeth’s funeral and all five seasons of The Crown on Netflix (2.8 million people watched just one episode last November in the UK alone). More recently, Prince Harry’s tell-almost-all biography Spare sold 1.43 million copies in the U.S., Canada and Britain on the first day it was available.

Now, we can get a new look at the lives of the royals – almost. One of the most poignant episodes of The Crown was when Queen Elizabeth reluctantly agreed to sell the Royal Yacht Britannia as an austerity measure, in 1997. It had been launched in 1954, and she said it was her favorite spot in the world.

The royal yacht has a special place in history. Indeed, the royal family has had one since King Charles ll in 1660. So there was great interest in the spring of 2021 when then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans for a new national flagship as a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia to promote British trade and industry around the world. He said there would be a competition among leading yacht designers to get the government’s approval for the yacht.

Unfortunately, a new government scuttled those plans last October, also as an austerity measure. But last week, Vitruvius Yachts, the London-based firm, revealed its plans for the yacht, saying it had been a finalist in the competition before it was cancelled.

The design, a collaboration among Philippe Briand and Vitruvius Yachts, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Ocea, an aluminum ship specialist, called for a 250 million pound (307 million U.S. dollars), 410-foot, zero-carbon superyacht with an aluminum hull and green technology (recognizing King Charles lll’s interest in the environment) inside and out.

Vitruvius said the yacht was “a vessel for the people” but it was “designed to be ‘fit for a king.’”

The hull would  have 30 percent less hydrodynamic drag than a conventional steel ship, and power would come from a large battery bank that could be charged on shore or by onboard generators using renewable biofuels. It would be built with recycled aluminum, with the interior based on recycled or recyclable materials.

The interior also would have a flexible plan, so it could be used as a floating embassy or exhibition area. The exterior uses the Union Jack flag as a motif; an LED-lighted line in the profile hints at the ribbon pattern in that flag. Read more at  http://vitruviousyachts.com and see the video below:

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

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

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

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

Royal Yacht Britania Facts and History

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to Tour the Royal Yacht Britania

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

How to Visit the Royal Britania

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

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

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Royal Romance’s seller confirmed

Amidst the controversy, the croatian government has revealed that dutch auction house troostwijk auctions will oversee the sale of the seized yacht….

Following a competitive selection process, Troostwijk Auctions has been named as the body to oversee the sale of sanctioned Ukrainian Viktor Medvedchuk’s yacht, Royal Romance . According to Ukraine’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) earlier today (23 April), the Commission members heading the selection process reviewed the applications of three official bidders.

“This is already a great victory […] Medvedchuk’s yacht will be sold at a transparent auction and will bring significant revenues to the budget of Ukraine," says Olena Duma Head of ARMA. “Whoever buys Medvedchuk’s yacht will deal a political blow to the Putin regime and will be on the pages of world history.”

The ownership status of Royal Romance was transferred to the Ukrainian government earlier this year.

On 20 March 2024, Ukraine and ARMA announced their plans to sell “the yacht of traitor-collaborator Medvedchuk” – the first time a seized asset from abroad will be sold by the nation’s authorities.

This competitive selection process was made possible due to the ruling of the Lychakiv District Court of Lviv on 11 April 2022, the decision of the District Court of Split of the Republic of Croatia on 25 May 2022 and the inspection of the asset carried out on 29 February earlier this year, with the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

Having been established in 2015, Troostwijk Auctions will now manage the sale of the 92-metre Feadship and specialises in the sale of yachts, with an annual revenue of around €1.5 billion. According to Duma, the company’s documents confirm that it has transparent auction rules and supervises the legality of auction procedures with a notary.

The Dutch auction house was selected in favour of two other applicants: US-based Asset Reality Limited and Boathouse Auctions. The former was not admitted to the competitive selection process on the grounds that the company did not comply with the Ukrainian Government's Resolution, the submission of an incomplete package of documents and a violation of the established requirements.

During the competitive selection, as requested by the National Agency, applicants had to provide the Commission overseeing the selection process with a letter clarifying they were not involved in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Medvedchuk or any persons associated with him. Troostwijk Auctions was then approved for the role after extensive evaluation from the commission.

Now, Troostwijk Auctions has five business days to present a proposal to ARMA to conclude the agreement, a draft of which must be supplied to the National Agency in advance.

While the future of Royal Romance remains ultimately unclear at the present moment, the move to seize, take ownership, sell the yacht at auction and keep the proceeds of sale echoes the unresolved Alfa Nero situation in Antigua. The vessel has remained there for several years following lengthy legal processes and litigious disputes over the ultimate ownership.

Whether a similar process will happen with Royal Romance is speculative, however, the parallels remain, only to be reinforced by an announcement earlier today from the ARMA – a bill allowing the National Agency to use seized funds to buy Defense Bonds was passed, being fully supported by 299 members of parliament.

Duma says that the swift adoption of this project “will allow [ARMA] to significantly expand the possibilities for replenishing the state budget and increase funding for defence projects.” ARMA is responsible for purchasing these bonds, and recent figures show a significant amount invested in Defence Bonds.

In 2023, ARMA held Defence Bonds with a total value of 3.701 billion Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH) (€87 million), consisting of 3,602,934 individual units. The income generated from these bonds amounted to 195.86 million UAH (€4.6 million). Currently, after some bonds have been repaid, ARMA still holds 2,378,842 units of Defence Bonds, with a total value of 2.465 billion UAH (€58 million).

Despite some media outlets speculatively valuing Royal Romance at around €200 million, it is difficult to determine what the yacht will actually be sold for if   the sale is to go through. Nevertheless, considering the geopolitical situation Ukraine is in, any proceeds to aid ARMA’s new programme will provide an immensely sizeable defence budget increase, regardless of the litigious fallout that is sure to follow.

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Revealed: Details of secret naval plans for a new £100million Royal Yacht Britannia replacement scuppered by Tony Blair 

A secret naval design for a replacement for Britannia could provide the basis for a new £100million royal yacht, the retired naval officer who helped draw up the original plans has said.

The Telegraph can reveal full details of the 1997 design, which was drawn up by naval staff and approved by representatives of the royal family before Tony Blair’s Labour Government refused to pay for it.

Commander John Prichard, the project’s officer in charge, said that there was no reason why the new design  - which is currently languishing in Ministry of Defence archives - could not be used as a model for a replacement for Britannia, which was retired from service in 1997.

The Daily Telegraph has launched a campaign to return a modern-day version of HMY Britannia to the seas to help secure trade deals once Britain has left the European Union . 

The vessel is estimated to have helped secure £3 billion of trade deals between 1991 and 1995. 

Cdr Prichardsaid: “Things have moved on with IT and communications, and big changes in marine propulsion, but the overall size and concept of the ship would be much the same.”

Cdr Prichardsuggested the cost of the new yacht could be part-funded by other maritime Commonwealth countries and the command and personnel rotated among them.

The new yacht would have cost around £60million in 1997, which equates to £100million in today’s money. She was smaller than Britannia, but was better equipped to deal with the demands of the 21 st  century.

The new design measured 104 metres from bow to stern, less than Britannia’s 115.8 metres, and could accommodate a royal party of 34 – including dressers, equerries, protection officers and ladies in waiting - compared to one of 50 on Britannia.

It had enough space for a ship’s company of 125 excluding the obligatory Royal Marines band, compared with the 240 required to crew the Britannia.

However, the new yacht had a range of 6,000 nautical miles – three times Britannia’s 2,000 nautical miles range.

It also had enough space for 100 delegates for meetings when docked in harbour for faraway trade summits, and a strengthened deck to allow a lightweight helicopter to land.

The 25-page brochure for the yacht, parts of which have been seen by The Daily Telegraph , says: “The 1997 Future Royal Yacht Design fulfils the dual role of Royal Yacht and venue for the promotion of British Trade, whilst conveying an image of understated elegance.”

The plans were drawn up by a group of naval architects after the-then Conservative Prime Minister John Major announced in January 1997, that Britannia would be replaced by a new royal yacht in time for the Queen’s Golden Jubilee in 2002.

They were prepared by Cdr Prichard's team in the Minstry of Defence, despite the new Labour Government – which won power in May of that year - hinting that it would not commission a successor royal yacht to Britannia.

The yacht design was eventually approved by a six-strong committee which included Lord Janvrin, who as Robin Janvrin was deputy private secretary to the Queen at the time.

A brochure containing the plans was then distributed around the Government and to Buckingham Palace in early October.

However, by then it was too late. On October 10 1997, the Labour Government announced that Britannia would not be refitted or replaced.

Cdr Prichard, who retired at the end of 1997 at the same time as Britannia, said he was not certain whether Mr Blair ever saw the plans. “Once Blair said it would be no more, the project was dead. It folded the next day,” he said.

He confessed he had tried to keep the Queen unofficially briefed on progress by regular updates for the Duke of York, whose office was nearby in the Ministry of Defence.

He said: “Down the corridor in the MoD at the time was Prince Andrew’s office and I used to make sure that everything went on his desk. I hope that he passed that onto the Queen.”

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