BFI

This Topical Budget item depicts senior members of the Royal Family aboard the racing cutter 'Britannia'. The boat had been launched just over twenty years earlier, following a commission from the then Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. Both Edward and his son George (i.e. George V, depicted in this film) were keen racing yachtsmen, and 'Britannia' won 231 races between 1893 and 1935, by which time its design had been superseded.

The original 'Britannia' was ceremoniously sunk in 1936, in accordance with the dying wishes of George V, who did not want his beloved yacht to survive him. In 1954, a brand new royal yacht, also named 'Britannia', was launched, and served the Royal Family until it was decommissioned following the election of the 1997 Labour Government, which opted not to fund a replacement.

Michael Brooke

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