The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall Shutterstock

A friend of the Royal Family has left them £50 million in his will, in order to replace the Royal Yacht Britannia, which was decommissioned in 1997.

Sir Donald Gosling, the founder of National Car Parks, died in September aged 90. A service of thanksgiving was held for him yesterday at Westminster Abbey, with the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke of Cambridge, Earl and Countess of Wessex and Prince Michael of Kent.


He knew the royal family through his work with the Royal Navy, which the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince of Wales and Duke of York have all been members of in the past.

What life was really like on-board Royal Yacht Britannia Royals What life was really like on-board Royal Yacht Britannia

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In 2012, he was made Vice-Admiral by the Queen, an honorary title given to him at Windsor Castle. During the same year he lent his yacht Leander to the Queen to use during her Diamond Jubilee tour.

Throughout his lifetime he donated £100 million to charity, mostly to causes relating to the navy. He had previously attempted to raise £60 million for a new yacht to replace the Britannia, back in 1994.


Sir Donald Gosling with the Queen in 2012 Getty Images

The Royal Yacht was a victim of Prime Minister Tony Blair's cost-cutting in 1997, having served the royal family for 44 years, usually as part of royal tours. It was commissioned by the Queen's father, King George VI, just days before his death in 1952. It hosted some of the world's most important political figures, including Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan.

The family would also use it for their annual summer holiday to Scotland, touring the Western Isles, with the Princess Royal quipping that it took a team of nannies to prevent herself and Prince Charles falling overboard.


Today, the yacht is permanently docked in Edinburgh and serves as a tourist attraction, with every clock on board pointing to 3.01pm - recalling the moment the Queen stepped off its gangplank for the very last time.

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