Autumn Kelly, Peter Phillips’s live-in girlfriend.

Here on Royal Anecdotes we have been discussing the possibility of a Royal wedding next year, but could we have another much sooner than that?

There’s quite a bit of speculation going on about Autumn Kelly, Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips’s live-in girlfriend. Autumn, who’s Canadian, was invited to last week’s Hebridean cruise by the Queen and is pictured (above) boarding the small luxury liner for the trip.

Princess Anne has always said that her children are not “Royal”, so an autumn/fall wedding would not strictly be a Royal wedding, although I doubt the public would make that distinction when one of the parties is a grandson of the Queen.

Voyage Over
Now that the initial voyage of the Hebridean Princess as a Royal Yacht is over, it’s interesting to reflect on the events surrounding it. The most dramatic, according to the press, was when Camilla “abandoned Charles” and “left the ship” to return home to Raymill House, her Wiltshire estate which is costing the taxpayer nearly £2 million ($3.7m) to refurbish for her police protection squad.

Actually, she left the ship with the others at the conclusion of the trip. Prince Charles remained aboard alone to sail around the top of Scotland to a point just a 20-minute drive from the Castle of Mey, where he will be joined by Camilla in five days.

Oh, the dramas the press likes to stir up.

The Queen waving guests off the Hebridean Princess.

When the newly-elected Labour Government of Britain decommissioned the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1997, it was a huge blow to the Queen and to common sense. The ship was a symbol of Britain around the world, and was often used to seal massive business deals with other countries. Many felt it paid for itself many times over.

But the new “master” class thought otherwise. The modest cost of refurbishment or rebuilding was regarded as a political betrayal by a party that was overwhelmingly republican in sentiment.

The decommissioning of the Royal Yacht witnessed one of the very few occasions when Her Majesty shed tears in public. It had too many memories going back to her father, King George VI, who originally commissioned it.

Now in her 80th birthday year, the Queen has hired a converted car ferry, the Hebridean Princess, to take her and her family on the once-traditional summer cruise around the beautiful Western Isles of Scotland. Let’s not go overboard here: the Hebridean Princess has been converted into a luxury cruise ship of high standards, even if the crew of 40 Latvians on £40 ($74) a day pay hardly matches the old Royal Navy sailors who made up the ship’s compliment. They must be sorely missed by the traditionalists of the Royal family, not least Prince Philip, once an Admiral in the Navy.

The Grand Staircase on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Our Campaign
Here at Royal Anecdotes, we are launching an Internet campaign to recommission a new Royal Yacht Britannia, based on the old design, and with full RN crew. If begun now, it could be ready for HM’s 85th birthday.

What a fitting gift that would be from a nation that has sometimes undervalued its staunch Monarch in favour of fly-by-night principles promoted by here-today-gone-tomorrow politicians on the make.

Let’s start promoting this now. A new Royal Yacht for the Queen’s 85th birthday. Spread it virally if you can.