[Baff]

British royalty has some pretty massive expenses I am sure so how the hell are they paying for all this themselves? Are they farming huge plots of land and selling the produce or wtf?

They are indeed farming huge plots of land and selling the produce.

[Otebo]

Lord Ashcroft has offered to chip in £5 million. It's a good start. Time for those FTSE 100 companies to put their hands in their pockets.

[Kman]

Lord Ashcroft has offered to chip in £5 million. It's a good start. Time for those FTSE 100 companies to put their hands in their pockets.

I would rather they use the money on production equipment that will increase the productivity of british workers and provide jobs that are sustainable instead of spending money on a fucking yacht that is purely a consumption good IE an expenditure for the nation since it doesnt increase productivity, it is pure waste.

[Lightman]

I would rather they use the money on production equipment that will increase the productivity of british workers and provide jobs that are sustainable instead of spending money on a fucking yacht that is purely a consumption good IE an expenditure for the nation since it doesnt increase productivity, it is pure waste.

Isn't that just the magic of capitalism and the subjective theory of value?

[Otebo]

Kman, the previous Royal Yacht Britannia spent as much time fulfilling a commercial role as it did providing accommodation for the royal family. It was an excellent tool for boosting trade and British businesses were delighted when they had the opportunity to invite their foreign counterparts on the 'Queen's yacht' to sign contracts.

On any tour, the yacht would spend much more time on commercial than royal duties for the simple reason that it worked. No royal passengers were necessary.

If a British trade delegation invited a bunch of Wall Street titans to a business breakfast in a New York conference room, then attendance would be sparse. Who wanted yet another hotel buffet? If the same guests were invited to the same meal in the dining room of the Royal Yacht, then a full turnout could be expected.

Lord Hurd recalls one stopover in Bombay in 1993, when British businesses with contracts ready for signature were asked to invite their Indian opposite numbers to attend a signing ceremony on board — and in the Queen’s own drawing room to boot.

There were no members of the Royal Family within a thousand miles, yet deals that had been languishing for years suddenly gained a new lease of life. Minor legal squabbles were magically resolved.

‘The yacht thrashed about in the Bay of Bombay,’ Lord Hurd recalls, ‘and millionaires trooped aboard and signed up.’ In the end, contracts worth £1.1 billion were signed.

If such a ship were used to boost exports, which is one of the aims, then I see no reason why large companies shouldn't contribute what to them are relatively small amounts of money.

[Lexington]

They are all plugged into 'Jefferies Tubes', ducting (named after the Starship Enterprise's power tunnels), that carries power, water, and technology services

Immediately $1 million was donated from all of us Star Trek nerds here in the US.

[Smertios]

I would rather they use the money on production equipment that will increase the productivity of british workers and provide jobs that are sustainable instead of spending money on a fucking yacht that is purely a consumption good IE an expenditure for the nation since it doesnt increase productivity, it is pure waste.

This reminds me of those people who say that the US should shut NASA down and stop all space exploration programs, since the 17 billion dollars spent every year could be better used to fight hunger in the planet...

Scientific development doesn't stop just because a few people think it is a waste of money. This ship is a piece of art for engineering as a whole, it should be built. And it will be used for commercial purposes, which will generate profit for the nation...

[Baff]

Lord Ashcroft has offered to chip in £5 million. It's a good start. Time for those FTSE 100 companies to put their hands in their pockets.

No. It's not.
FTSE companies don't get to give away their shareholders money to "good causes".

They get to give their shareholders money back to their shareholders who do not need any boardroom executive at all to decide for them all where they should spend any of their unused money.

[Otebo]

They already give plenty of money to charity and 'good causes', hundreds of millions of pounds. This would be a tiny proportion of that and it would be one that delivers them a return. As I've said, such a national flagship would be a great asset for UK plc and a like Britannia would spend a lot of time on commercial duties.

[Baff]

I'm quite happy to donate personally for the yacht, I am not in any way happy to have people investing my money to do so on my behalf.

It's like Blair giving away millions to the Tsunami appeal the other Christmas. Trying to outbid the other world leaders. But it wasn't his money and we didn't need him to give it away for us.

The Board of FTSE companies are perfectly welcome to donate their own personal money but they aren't welcome to donate any of mine for anything whatsoever. That's not why I lent it to them.

[Thompson_NCL]

Making high profile donations is good for the company and if the shareholders were unhappy they could vote for a new board.

[Rei Murasame]

When I first clicked this thread, I was worried that it would be some PR disaster story of them trying to buy it with public funds in the middle of an oncoming double-dip recession.

To my relief, they are doing this the smart way and asking for voluntary donations. As TCR has said, people love the Royal Family and I would add that furthermore they are perceived as one of the few non-corrupt elements of the British state. You can be reasonably sure that if something is wrong with the county, the Royal Family isn't causing it. So a lot of single persons will likely donate to this quite happily.

As Otebo said, the commercial factor also plays a good part, as the Royal Family are some of the ultimate celebrities, no sane business would want to pass up the opportunity to get involved in this.

British royalty has some pretty massive expenses I am sure so how the hell are they paying for all this themselves? Are they farming huge plots of land and selling the produce or wtf?

They are indeed farming huge plots of land and selling the produce.

Indeed, yes.

Kman, did you forget the history of the Royal Houses and that they are from mtDNA group T, the people who accumulated massive residual wealth and military authority during the Neolithic Revolution?

So interestingly, they are also a business success story, just not in a way that individualists could've imagined.

[Kman]

So interestingly, they are also a business success story, just not in a way that individualists could've imagined.

That sounds great, I guess this means we can privatize the royalty then since they are paying their own expenses anyway.

[Rei Murasame]

Aren't they already private?

[Smertios]

Kman, did you forget the history of the Royal Houses and that they are from mtDNA group T, the people who accumulated massive residual wealth and military authority during the Neolithic Revolution?

That sounds great, I guess this means we can privatize the royalty then since they are paying their own expenses anyway.

The problem is that they are already privatized

Except for the palaces, security, and official trips of the queen, the royal family doesn't really cost anything to the public... Presidencies are much more expensive...

[junothecat]

For anyone who is interested, there is an alternative to asking any to spend any money on a Royal Yacht. And the yacht in question doesn't have to be a new Royal Yacht, it can also be a 'Commonwealth Flagship'. More than half of Britons (56%) believe the proposal to build a replacement for the royal yacht Britannia, decommissioned in 1997, is a good idea. That’s according to Ipsos MORI who carried out the poll on behalf of the New Flagship Company which is promoting the construction of a ‘Commonwealth Flagship’ to take over Britannia’s role as a trading ship between Britain and the Commonwealth nations, many of whom are still mired in poverty.

The thumbs up from the British public has inspired the founder of the project, advertising entrepreneur Ian Maiden, to step up the campaign to search for a wealthy backer or consortium to take the baton and lead the project to fruition. The popularity of the project with the public is in part helped by the fact that no taxpayers’ money would be involved, and the principal function of the yacht is not for holiday jollies for the British Royal Family, but to promote trade between Britain and the 54 overseas Commonwealth countries.

“The proposed ship would be privately funded and used as a travelling exhibition centre to advance trade and tourism opportunities in poorer Commonwealth countries and to promote British and Commonwealth trade in general,” explains Maiden. “The ship would also be available for use by the Royal Family and other Commonwealth heads of state whilst on official business, which would give it added prestige, helping attract even more business activity onboard.”

A design for the new ship has already been drawn up - elegantly yet conventionally styled, she has something of the feel of Britannia, and is 127 metres long. “The ship would have a valuable primary role whilst being able to serve as an elegant and secure base for the Queen when required,” explains Maiden.

Ian Maiden believes that the cost, estimated at £100 million, could be underwritten by one or two wealthy individuals or corporate consortiums who could also use the yacht themselves from the time to time, whilst putting its management in the hands of an all-Commonwealth ‘navy’. “There are currently around 30 superyachts in the world worth more than this in private hands, and probably plenty more wealthy individuals who would love to own a yacht without the full responsibility or associated ostentation. So I believe it is not an unrealistic proposition.”

Go to http://www.commonwealthflagship.comfor more information. The opinions of you fellow forum bloggers would be much valued.