NOT AMUSED...

Now don`t get me wrong.   After 60 years in a job anyone deserves a bit of recognition, so I have no problem with marking the Queen`s diamond jubilee this year.   But the hair brained notion that a grateful nation should present her majesty with a brand spanking new royal yacht is just plain daft.

Without being unkind, at their respective ages of 85 and 90, I`m not sure a life on the ocean wave would be good for the royal couple`s wellbeing and you have to ask whether, by the time the yacht is completed, the Queen and Prince Philip will be able to appreciate it as much as they did the old one.  

But what I find at least bordering on the offensive is the suggestion that the £80million cost of building the yacht should be borne by public subscription.   The Government has made it pretty clear that Government money (ie. taxpayers cash) will not be used for this project.   Instead, an appeal is being launched and already well heeled Tory Peer Lord Ashcroft has promised £5million and there are reports that Canadian businessmen are to pledge another £10million.   As for the remaining £65million, the business community and the general public will be expected to cough up - and no-one has yet mentioned the running costs.

So, I`m curious as to the motives as to why people should fork out.   Of course, there will always be the genuine royalphiles who are seriously moonstruck but there might well be others whose motives are less clear.   Do some hope to seek some sort of redemption and do others feel that maybe there might be something in it for them if they are shown to be supportive?   The odd gong perchance?   Who knows?

But if the royal family are so keen on having a new yacht then surely it is within their means to pay for one - flog off the odd crown jewel, put Sandringham on the market, put up the already extortionate price of Duchy Originals.  But please don`t ask me to cough up as I am seriously not amused by the whole business.