The Queen: Somebody get this woman a yacht
Downing Street has dismissed calls for the public to buy the Queen a £60 million yacht to celebrate her diamond jubilee. Education Secretary Michael Gove made the suggestion in a letter to fellow ministers that was leaked to the British press: “In spite, and perhaps because of the austere times, the celebration should go beyond those of previous jubilees and mark the greater achievement that the diamond anniversary represents,” he wrote, reported The Guardian. The Queen is currently without a yacht, after the Royal Britannia was retired from service in 1997.
But it seems Prime Minister David Cameron and his advisers suspect that asking cash-strapped British taxpayers to fund a multi-million-pound yacht for a woman with an estimated fortune of £300 million may not be a popularity-boosting ploy during a time of swingeing spending cuts and looming global recession. “Clearly there is a difficult economic situation, there are scarce resources, and therefore we don’t think it would be an appropriate use of public money at the present time,” said Cameron’s spokesman, according to The Telegraph.
So what to get the woman who has everything (apart from a private yacht)?
Not a barge. The Queen has no luck at the moment when it comes to nautical vessels. The Daily Mail reported that plans to row Her Majesty down the Thames in a gilded barge as part of the official pageant have been scrapped over health and safety concerns: “Officials have decided the 88ft Gloriana does not have enough room for protection officers and other vital support staff.” The barge is being constructed on the orders of Tory peer and P&O boss Lord Sterling, who apparently intends to give it to the Queen as a gift after the pageant. Even though she can’t actually use it. Worst. Present. Ever.
Nick Clegg sense of humor alert: The deputy prime minister dismissed the idea of buying a £60 million boat for the Queen by referring to “the haves and the have yachts”. He then apologised for the joke, according to The Telegraph.
A yacht! In fact, the yacht idea hasn’t been completely scuppered: Iain Watson reported for the BBC that private donors may step in. And Ed West suggested in The Telegraph that the idea may be more palatable to taxpayers if the vessel were to be funded by public subscription: “Public subscription generally is a thing to be encouraged. Some of our greatest buildings ,without which our urban landscapes would be unthinkable, came about through this method,” he said. Interestingly, nobody seems to have considered whether the Queen actually wants a yacht; Buckingham Palace refused to comment.
The Periscope Post’s suggestions for gifts from the public for the Queen’s diamond jubilee: A diamond-studded remote control robot corgi; a nice box of Yardley toiletries; a DVD of The Queen autographed by Helen Mirren; a Segway emblazoned with the Royal crest. What are your suggestions?
