£250m design for King Charles’ scrapped superyacht unveiled
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.
The concept for the yacht – initially put forward by Boris Johnson - was described as being a “celebration of British society and technology in a vessel designed for the people but fit for a king”.
Vitruvius said a key feature was a focus on sustainable power. The “highly efficient” hull design would have minimised fuel consumption and focused on emerging green technology, they said.
The interior’s design made use of recycled materials and would have had a flexible deck and interior design that could switch between exhibition showcase or floating embassy, with the yacht firm saying it is “suitable for everyone from VVIPs to schoolchildren and the disabled".
The previous Royal Yacht Britannia - used by the royal family since 1954 - had visitors including 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 design was put together by Team FestivAl, a collaboration between Vitruvius Yachts, Zaha Hadid Architects, and aluminium ship and yacht specialists Ocea.
The vessel would have featured an energy-agnostic propulsion system based on efficient pod drives, which could have enabled geostationary position-keeping without damaging sensitive seabeds with an anchor, the company said.
Vitrivius Yachts added: “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. “
Yacht designer Philippe Briand 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.”
