22-07-2025
Palace lobbied Downing Street for £50m Royal yacht replacement
Buckingham Palace lobbied Sir John Major's government for a £50m replacement of the Royal Yacht Britannia, newly released files suggest.
Cabinet Office papers released by the National Archives reveal apparent backhanded manoeuvring by palace officials as ministers agonised over whether to order a replacement for the vessel.
The files show how courtiers invited civil servants to a 'splendid lunch' on the yacht and tried to influence a speech by Sir John, then prime minister, as part of a thinly veiled campaign to replace the ship.
By 1993 it was apparent that, after 39 years, Britannia was reaching the end of its life, but Sir John's Conservative government had yet to decide whether to invest in a new one.
It was widely thought Queen Elizabeth II strongly favoured the commissioning of a new yacht but the Royal family could not afford to be seen to be trying to influence political decision-making.
However, files released by the Archives at Kew, west London, show that senior courtiers privately approached No 10 to see if the prime minister would make a Commons statement stressing Britannia's ' inestimable value ' to the nation.
The plan, which appears to be a show of support for a new yacht, was rejected by the Cabinet Office, which warned that any such comments would be highly 'prejudicial'.
One senior official noted caustically that a claim by the Palace that the Queen was 'indifferent' as to the outcome of a review of the yacht's future 'hardly rings true'.
The issue of a new yacht came at an extremely difficult time for both the government and the Palace, with support for the royals at a low ebb.
There had been an angry public backlash the previous year when ministers announced the taxpayer would pick up the bill, which eventually ran to £36m, for the restoration of Windsor Castle following a catastrophic fire.
In the aftermath of her 'annus horribilis', which also saw the separation of Charles and Diana, the Queen agreed that she would for the first time pay taxes.
'Of inestimable value to the UK'
With Sir John due to announce the historic move in a statement to parliament, Sir Robert Fellows, the Queen's private secretary, saw an opportunity to secure what would amount to a show of support for a new yacht.
He asked Alex Allan, the prime minister's principal private secretary, whether Sir John would insert a passage referring to the importance of Britannia as well as the Queen's flight and the royal train.
He suggested the prime minister should tell MPs that it was not just a question of cost 'but also the style in which we wish our head of state and members of the royal family to represent us ' in their public duties.
'It is always difficult to put a price on prestige but I have no doubt that over the years these items have been of inestimable value to this country.'
Sir Robert's proposed addition to Sir John's statement went on: 'I would also like to make clear that there is not, and never has been, any pressure from the Queen to build a replacement for HMY Britannia.
'Should the government decide it is in the national interest for the yacht to be replaced that would be of course another matter.'
However, Nicolas Bevan, the official heading the working group set up to consider the future of the yacht, warned that the proposed remarks could be 'prejudicial' to any future decisions.
'For example to say that the royal yacht has been of inestimable value to this country will not be a helpful remark if ministers in due course decide not to replace Britannia,' Mr Bevan said.
'Equally it hardly rings true to suggest that it is a matter of complete indifference to the Queen as to whether Britannia is replaced or not.'
'No kind of rearguard action on the yacht'
Despite the palace's protestations of neutrality, the files suggest courtiers were involved in what amounted to some none-too-subtle lobbying in favour of a new yacht.
On May 13 1993, senior government officials, led by Sir Robin Butler, the cabinet secretary, were invited to a 'splendid lunch' on board Britannia where they were regaled by Sir High Bidwell, the former lord mayor of London, and the Earl of Limerick, a senior banker, on the value of the yacht to UK business.
Expressing his thanks afterwards to Major General Sir Simon Cooper, the master of the Queen's household, Sir Robin noted that the setting had 'brought home the issues to those involved in a unique way'.
However, when news of the meeting leaked out, government press officers were instructed to impress upon journalists that the Queen and royal family were 'not fighting any kind of rearguard action on the yacht'.
Despite misgivings over the costs, the Major government finally announced in January 1997 that they would build a replacement yacht if they were returned to power in the general election later that year.
The move was however widely interpreted as a desperate attempt to shore up support among wavering Tory voters, and when Labour was swept to power in a landslide they promptly reversed the decision.
When Britannia was finally decommissioned, after returning the Chris Patten, the last governor of Hong Kong, following the handover to China, the Queen was seen to shed a tear.
In its 43 years of service, the yacht sailed over one million nautical miles on 968 state visits with the Royal family where they entertained prime ministers and presidents.
The yacht is now retired and is berthed in Leith, Edinburgh, where it is open to visitors.
