The Royal Yacht Britannia. Photo by Beechwood Photography, Some Rights Reserved
Monarchist Education Secretary Michael Gove’s calls for the Queen to receive a new Royal Yacht as a gift from taxpayers has won surprise cross-party support.
Labour MPs have been quick to back the proposal, with the West coast of Italy topping a list of suggested destinations.
Sources among Opposition politicians say there is overwhelming support for the maiden voyage, with Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Sarah Ferguson, David Cameron and Michael Gove himself on the list of passengers.
“If there is room for Tony Blair, Nick Griffin and Corey Feldman’s hairdresser I don’t see why they couldn’t be invited to the party,” said an anonymous MP.
Conservative minister Gove wrote to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt to suggest a £60m vessel would be a fitting present for the long-serving monarch.
The Queen has spent decades sitting atop a massive personal fortune, and must surely be exhausted, he ventured.
“In keeping with the spirit of austerity I feel it would be more fitting to give the Queen a solo vessel,” suggested one MP.
“She could then be allowed to make her way around the globe in her own time.”
