Royal yachts

IT is a sign of the times when King Juan Carlos surrenders his beloved royal yacht. It is a shame but unfortunately it is the right decision. Short sighted republicans would have taken aim at the King if he had used the yacht this summer. I say short-sighted because the royal yacht was part of Team Royal Family. In otherwords it would be used to entertain visiting heads of state or businesspeople which would help Spain PLC. Without doubt King Juan Carlos is Spain´s greatest ambassador and is admired the world over. Many world leaders have been entertained at the Marivent Palace and aboard the royal yacht Fortuna. The fact that the vessel was a gift from a group of local businesspeople clearly shows the deep affection and admiration for his work which is felt locally. Queen Elizabeth was forced to give up her beloved Britannia for similar reasons. That was also a deep shame which probably cost Britain heavily. A group of businesspeople calculated that the Britannia helped secure many lucrative export contracts for Britain. But we live in difficult times where some people just take the short view rather than the long one. Britain needs a royal yacht which should not be viewed as just a royal pleasure craft. The Britannia would host large numbers of receptions and business gatherings around the world which was good business for Britain PLC. At a time when Britain is desperately searching for export contracts a royal yacht would have been a big asset.