Reintroduction of the Royal Yacht Britannia for the purpose of international trade

In January 1997, the then Defence Secretary Michael Portillo announced the Government would build a new royal yacht to replace Britannia, procured by the Ministry of Defence, costing £60 million.

Following the 1997 general election, the incoming Labour Government ruled out refurbishing or replacing Britannia using public funds and a building a new royal yacht using private funding. The Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in December 1997.

Calls for a new royal yacht to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee were mooted in 2012.

In September 2016, seventy-five backbench MPs signed a letter to the Prime Minister advocating the “recommissioning or rebuilding a new yacht” using private funding.

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