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Britannia CAN rule the waves! Cameron and senior royals back the Mail's campaign to replace Queen's yacht in honour of Diamond Jubilee - at no cost to taxpayers

By James Chapman

Last updated at 9:09 AM on 17th January 2012


The Mail’s campaign for a new privately funded royal yacht to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee won the backing of David Cameron yesterday.

The plan is also being privately ‘supported’ by Prince Charles and Princess Anne.

Mr Cameron and senior Conservatives have swung behind the idea of a replacement for Britannia – scrapped as Labour came to power in 1997 – as a ‘fitting way’ to mark the Queen’s six decades of service to her country. The Prime Minister has pledged his ‘full support’ for the ‘truly inspiring’ and ‘splendid’ initiative.

The backing from Mr Cameron and senior royals represents a major boost for the Mail’s campaign for the national flagship, which started last October.




The £80million, 600ft royal yacht, funded by private donors and individual donations, would be among the largest sailing ships in the world.

The four-masted vessel would have state apartments for use by the monarch, but there would also be an exhibition hall and room for 220 youngsters because the vessel would also be used for trade and business events and by disadvantaged young people for science education and training.

Last night’s rousing words of support from Downing Street represent a major step forward for the trustees of the plan who have been quietly developing the idea of a UK flagship for several years.

Then, last year the Daily Mail gave its full support to the project and announced a campaign to bring the idea to life. Many readers responded with letters of support and even donations, although no fundraising scheme has even been formalised.



Last night’s dramatic developments followed a day in which it first appeared that Education Secretary Michael Gove had advocated public funding for a new royal yacht. The story was based on a ‘leaked’ letter to The Guardian.

This soon backfired after it emerged that Mr Gove had said no such thing, a point he underlined in the Commons yesterday afternoon.

The ship has been designed by the internationally renowned British naval architect Colin Mudie, whose designs have included sail-training ships for several navies. It has been codenamed FSP21 (Future Ship Project for the 21st Century) or ‘University of the Oceans’, underlining its educational role.

It is also understood that cross-party support will be forthcoming for any project which does not involve public funds. As a carbon-neutral project which would be built in modular form all over the United Kingdom, there is little scope for controversy provided that the taxpayer is not involved.

Mr Cameron has ruled out using taxpayers’ money for the new yacht, saying it would be inappropriate in the current economic climate.

But he has written privately to the charitable trust behind the national flagship scheme: ‘This is a truly inspiring initiative. I am always keen on projects that look to inspire people from all backgrounds, tapping the skills and energies that Britain needs for future growth and prosperity.

‘In particular, I note that you propose to use the latest environmental technology in construction and operation of the vessel, whilst retaining much of the grandeur of the great sailing ships of Britain’s past.

‘I know you intend the project to be privately funded, and that there’s a long way to go. You will understand that the Government will not be able to offer funding, but I would like to give you my best wishes for the successful outcome of this venture. I think it’s a splendid initiative and you have my full support.’

Mr Gove and business minister David Willetts have written to Mr Cameron to express their backing for the idea, arguing it would mark the momentous significance of the Queen’s 60 years on the throne.

Mr Willetts, in a letter to the Prime Minister seen by the Mail, says ‘impressive supporters’ for the enterprise include the Prince of Wales and the Princess Royal.

The Queen famously wept as Britannia was decommissioned. The ship had a considerable economic benefit, with £1.1billion in contracts signed on board during a trip to Bombay in 1993.

Mr Gove, telling MPs he was supporting the idea of a new yacht, said: ‘Of course, the project for a royal yacht – the Future Ship Project 21st Century – [is] one where no public funding should be provided.

‘I support that project because it would provide opportunities for disadvantaged youth from across the country to learn new skills and to take part in exciting new adventures.’

In a letter to the Prime Minister, sent in September, he wrote: ‘This looks to be a highly commendable project, both for its contribution to our scientific knowledge and for the opportunities it offers to young people.

‘I believe that approving this ship to become a royal yacht would be an excellent way to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and to thank her, as a nation, for her long and untiring service to this country

‘I agree, of course, that we should be clear that no public funding is available for this project, as this would not be appropriate in the current financial climate.

‘I do feel, however, that as a country with a long tradition of monarchy, we should be proud to honour our Queen in this way.’

Supporters of the scheme suspect the Lib Dems of trying to scupper it by leaking the partial account of Mr Gove’s support yesterday, failing to make it clear that he did not back taxpayers’ money being used.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said yesterday a royal yacht would not be at the top of voters’ list of ‘priorities for the use of scarce public resources’ and joked about the difference between the ‘haves and the have-yachts’. Sources close to Mr Clegg said he would be ‘ambivalent’ about a privately funded vessel.

Rear Admiral David Bawtree, chairman of the FSP21 consortium of marine experts, said: ‘We are delighted that the Government, the Daily Mail and the people are being so enthusiastic about this project.

‘This is not another royal yacht but a national flagship and it will transform the lives of thousands of young people as well as serving as a fitting tribute to a great Queen. And we have been clear, from the outset, that it will not require public money.’

The group will seek donations from big business and individuals from Britain and the Commonwealth. Run by a charitable trust, the vessel would be designed to cover its own running costs, through trade exhibitions and training sea cadets.

Gerald Vernon-Jackson, leader of Portsmouth City Council, said: ‘The plan for a new ship containing apartments for the Royal Family is one that could be built at no cost to the UK taxpayer.

‘As she would be based in Portsmouth – like HMS Britannia – I would support this scheme that gives a home for a university of the oceans, space for UK business to show off their products when in port, and apartments for the Royal Family.’

Majestic - the £80m flagship that won't cost you a penny

By Robert Hardman

Tomorrow morning, an assembly of officials from Buckingham Palace, the Government and the City of London will gather at the headquarters of London Mayor Boris Johnson to unveil the plans for what should be one of the great spectacles not just of 2012 but of modern times.

It will have neither the incendiary firepower nor the budget of the Olympic opening ceremony. But the event will be watched live and free of charge by millions of people – and none of them needs a ticket.

The Thames Diamond Jubilee pageant in June will see the Queen travelling for mile after mile through the capital by boat at the head of a fleet of a thousand small craft from all over the globe.

It will be a great tribute to one of the most remarkable Sovereigns in our history and the greatest river pageant this country has seen since the reign of Charles II.

But it will also serve as a great reminder of Britain’s maritime heritage.

The reasons why most of the world speaks English, why much of the world still has Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, why world time is calibrated from Greenwich – they all derive from the fact that the British Isles have been exceptionally good at producing bold and brilliant seafarers.

And we still do. From our magnificent medal-draped Olympic yachting team to our round-the-world heroes to the global marine industry which is still domiciled here and forms a substantial part of our economy, we are very much a seafaring nation.

And that is why the Mail has been proud to lead the campaign for a new national flagship which we launched last October. This ingenious ship will embody all the great attributes of the former Royal Yacht Britannia, which proved such a successful diplomatic and commercial ambassador for Britain for almost half a century. But the new flagship will do much more besides.

Our dramatic artist’s impression revealed last year (and reprinted here) shows that this is a vessel for the future – and one which has been designed for year-round, international use by everyone from the sovereign to teenage sea cadets.

As a sailing ship, it will provide unrivalled sail-training opportunities and adventure for young people from all over the Commonwealth.

It will offer world-leading scientific research facilities which will make legendary explorer Jacques Cousteau’s dear old Calypso look like a bathtub.

When the Queen and other members of the Royal Family need a majestic floating residence from which to promote Britain, it will be there.

But for the rest of the time, when it is not earning its keep at sea, it can earn its keep in port with exhibitions, functions and trade events.

And it is different from Britannia in another, crucial regard: It will not involve taxpayers’ money.

The ship will be run by a charitable trust of eminent marine industry figures. They have been developing and costing this scheme for years. With the studiously low-key codename FSP21 – ‘Future Ship Project 21st Century’ – the ship’s £80million construction costs will be met by business, individuals and foundations.

And nor is that wishful thinking.

Such is the global respect and admiration for the Queen that many millions have already been pledged, long before the formal fund-raising begins.
One Canadian consortium has put down £10million and other significant donors are on stand-by, waiting for a formal endorsement from the Government.

Here at the Mail, we have been touched by unsolicited and extremely generous donations from readers who simply want to ‘do their bit’.

The Queen was not the only person with a tear in the eye on that bleak winter’s day in 1997 when Britannia was decommissioned. Millions in Britain and the Commonwealth – of all political persuasions – look back on it as a sorry occasion.


Sunny memories: Queen Elizabeth on board the Britannia at Portsmouth

So, too, does the former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, who took the decision. When I talked to him for my book, Our Queen, we discussed Britannia and he confessed that he had made a grave mistake.

Britannia’s noisiest critics would always bang on about the public cost. So remove that public cost and what is the downside?

To hear some of the hysterics following yesterday’s wholly misleading ‘leak’ of a letter written by Education Secretary Michael Gove (who suggested a new yacht would be an ideal way to mark the Queen’s 60th year on the throne), you would imagine the Government is planning to commission an ocean-going fun palace, pay for it by sacking a few nurses and teachers and then hand it to the Queen on bended knee with a tug of the forelock.

If that was the case, then the Queen would be the first person to reject the idea out of hand. It would be plain barmy to splash public money on something which would rebound adversely on the Monarchy, particularly in the midst of both a recession and a Jubilee.

The Queen is acutely aware of the need for economic good sense. Wisely, Buckingham Palace will not express any official view on the national flagship until a fully-worked scheme is formally up and running with cross-party endorsement. That is the next stage in the Mail’s campaign.

So what was going on yesterday? Quite simply, The Guardian received a letter (or part of a letter) from Mr Gove, to Cabinet colleagues in which he talked about the importance of the Diamond Jubilee.

In it, he lent his enthusiastic endorsement to our national flagship idea but also suggested some sort of Jubilee memento for every child in the land – much like the Coronation and Jubilee mugs and coins of yesteryear.

If public money could not be found to support the idea of a children’s souvenir, he said, then a private donation might be sought – an eminently sensible idea. But he never mentioned taxpayer money for a vessel of any sort.

Mr Gove’s opponents were quick to exploit the fib. Republicans rubbed their hands and fired off the usual ‘off with their heads’ stuff into the online chatrooms.

Then the Education Secretary fired a well-aimed broadside from the Commons Despatch Box yesterday afternoon and the good ship Porky Pie was holed below the waterline.

While the Mail would never have chosen to trumpet the royal yacht plan in a week when a major maritime disaster has taken place in the Mediterranean, this whole episode has served a very useful purpose. It reveals the extent of senior Government support for this great project. And there are plenty of encouraging voices on the Opposition benches, too.

The truth is that this is, emphatically, not a party political issue. Anything which is designed to represent the nation and support the Queen must avoid controversy.

It is a shamelessly romantic idea, in a time of austerity, to build a spectacular platform from which to promote Britain.

But set aside the romance and dwell on the facts. If educationalists from Russia to Chile to Australia can agree on one thing, it is that the challenge of crewing a large square-rigged ship is one of the most effective means of character building for young men and women everywhere.

Here, too, is a high-tech, carbon neutral vessel which even has photovoltaic thread (solar power) in every square foot of its vast sail area.

And if dear old Britannia – designed as a yacht-cum-hospital ship – could generate more than a billion pounds in international contracts during a single trade promotion event (as it did in the Bay of Bombay in 1993), what could a 21st century flagship achieve?

Those who don’t like the idea do not need to worry. They will not be paying for it. But anyone with the faintest sense of pride in our history, our young people and our sovereign will see that this is an idea whose time has come.

Watch this space.