Beatrix's Sailing Yacht - The Green Dragon, Costs and Other Issues

[Marengo]

As posted by Marianne on the Benelux Royals MB

[FONT=verdana, arial]Several Dutch news-papers are publishing an article about the (rather extreme) high maintenance costs of the Queen's private sailing boat 'De Groene Draeck' (which she received upon her 18th b'day).
Seems the Ministery of Defence has been paying Euro 112,000 per year for the maintenance of this private boat (wouldn't call it a yacht anyhow!) and since the annual budgets are made public nowadays, these specific (extra) costs for this Department have come out in the open.
The boat is mostly used for private trips and only - occasionally - used by the Queen or the Prince of Orange in their official capacity, like when they are viewing 'Sailing Amsterdam' for example.
Some may remember seeing Queen Beatrix and the Eikenhorstertjes on this boat for a picture-shoot in the harbour of pittoresque Muiden (RVD pic below).
Links to several (Dutch) news-paper reports:
http://www.bndestem.nl/binnenland/article1757490.ece
http://www.trouw.nl/laatstenieuws/laatstenieuws/article774156.ece/Defensie_draait_op_voor_onderhoud_jacht_Beatrix
http://www.nd.nl/Document.aspx?document=nd_artikel&id=98056
http://www.dvhn.nl/article2296155.ece
[/FONT]

 

[Mandrake]

It is remarkable that a ship which measures 5 by 15 metres each year needs regular maintenance worth 120.000 euros. Craftmenship seems to be expensive these days! That the rijkswerf maintains a ship for royal purposes, so the Queen or the Prince of Orange can go to nautical events in style is however understandable. If it were possible my hope would be to see the Koningssloep from 1817 back in use again for such occasions. Unfortunately this ship was last used in 1962 and has been in the scheepvaartmuseum since 1983... but one can hope right?

 

[Marengo]

I was thinking that to. My uncle has a simular boat and if they spend 1200 euros every year it would be much.

Isn t the sloep too big to get out of the museum, I believe they will have to demolish a wall to get the thing out, which will happen when pigs fly of course.

 

[Henri M.]

In a reply by the Government on questions from the Chamber, it is stated that the Department of Defense will continue to pay for the upkeep of the Queen's private sail yacht, De Groene Draeck (The Green Dragon).

According to the Minister of Defense the Goverment can not simply end this because when the sail yacht was given to the then Princess Beatrix in 1956, this was done on the condition of maintenance and upkeep by the State.

Earlier the same condition has applied for the Piet Hein, another private yacht which was a wedding present to Princess Juliana and Prince Bernhard in 1936.

In 1961 the Government has formalized these conditions and the minister feels no any urge to change anything in that.

 

[Mandrake]

In 1961 the Government has formalized these conditions and the minister feels no any urge to change anything in that.

It is a true disgrace that HM has had to suffer bad press because a spokeperson at the Defence Department stated that there were no conditions or agreements about the maintence, as far as they knew, whilst they did exist!
It is okay that they want to make quick responses to questions from newspapers etc, but it is better to give 'good' answers.

Just imagine how this has been for HM, of course she knew about this agreement for the maintenance, knew that she had done nothing wrong, and yet everybody is critizising her.....

 

[Marengo]

I still wonder how they can spend 100.000 euros each your for the maintenance of such a boat. Maybe the Daneborg or the Norge will have such costs, but such a small sailing boat? You see so many of those around! I wonder if they didn´t make a mistake in the calculations.

 

[Marengo]

As posted by Marianne on the Benelux Royals MB:

Earlier on this MB also saw some press-reports & heated discussions about the (far too high!) annual maintenance costs of the Queen's private sailing yacht "De Groene Draeck".
A report by the Ministry of Justice shows that there still is a huge sum of money unaccounted for and now Parliament wants to have a discussion with PM Balkenende (who promised more 'transparency' earlier on but who has not done so, thus far)
See link to news-paper/journalistic reports:
http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2008/3/8/080308_groene_draeck.html

http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/3508141/_Ophef_over_kosten_Groene_Draeck__.html

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/nieuwsberichten/2008/03/gebrek-aan-open.html

Plus an english report by journalist hja on his weblog:
http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2008/03/scandal-over-ma.html

 

[Marengo]

According to RTL News the maintanance costs for 2005 of the Groene Draeck are much higher than the years before. In 2005 it costed 304.000 euros instead of the normal figure between 100.000 and 150.000 euros. 186.000 euros are accounted for but the accountants of the ministairy of Justice could not trace down what happened to the remaining 118.000 euros.

Article in Dutch: Telegraaf

 

[norwegianne]

I still wonder how they can spend 100.000 euros each your for the maintenance of such a boat. Maybe the Daneborg or the Norge will have such costs, but such a small sailing boat? You see so many of those around! I wonder if they didn´t make a mistake in the calculations.

Norge actually cost 14,8 mil. NOK in maintenance in year 2000. (Approx. 1 877 100 Euros with today's exchange rates.)

 

[LadyCat]

According to RTL News the maintanance costs for 2005 of the Groene Draeck are much higher than the years before. In 2005 it costed 304.000 euros instead of the normal figure between 100.000 and 150.000 euros. 186.000 euros are accounted for but the accountants of the ministairy of Justice could not trace down what happened to the remaining 118.000 euros.

Article in Dutch: Telegraaf

Sounds like someone needed some "pocket change".

Cat

 

[Marengo]

The Norge is a real yacht, the boat of the Queen is really nothing extravagant, there are so many boats like that in the country! And everybody who owns such a boat knows that it virtually impossible to spend 150.000 on it yearly. A couple of 1000 is enough for most.

--
Well, the pocketchange probably is with the ministery of Defence, it is suspected they didn't know what to do with some costs of their department and just booked it under the Groene Draeck.

The Liberal party in parlement now suggests that the Defence department stops taking care of the ship and private companies will be asked. Not very likely to happen, but still...

Here a picture of the boat, the interior is still in the style of the 50-ties as HM wanted to keep everything the way as she received it.

 

[LadyCat]

^^ Uh, Marengo, where's the pic?

Cat

 

[Marengo]

Ah, I forgot the link, sorry.

Here a picture, and here another one. And here Queen Bee and Professor van Vollenhoven on deck during SAIL 2005 in Amsterdam.

Note that this ungoing discussion is damaging the RF, on newspaper- and opinion websites it is raining negative messages, and most of them with false information too. As Mandrake said, HM is suffering bad press for all the wrong reasons. This is the fault of the defence department, not of the RF. And the Prime Minister is nowhere to be seen, as usual...sigh. I am not sure if the minister of Defence, Eimert van Middelkoop, came to the rescue, (lucien, do you know?).

 

[LadyCat]

Nice little sail boat. And hardly capable of absorbing the cost attributed to its upkeep. I had wondered if the Queen was getting any flack or suffering any backlash from the misspending of funds attributed to her boat. Sine the agreement for the maintenance was made before she was even given the gift of the boat its hard to see how any reasonable person could blame her for this. Evidently so called journalist the world over need to attend the Joe Friday school of journalism -- "Just the facts, ma'am."

BTW surely the populace is aware of the circumstances - yes? I was under the impression that Queen Beatrix is almost universally loved.

Cat

 

[lucien]

Clearly someone has been fidling with funds,not HM.This is the umptiest time the costs of the uphold of the boat pop up,and never,
never has the present government,read that &8$53##27 Bakelende,done anything worthwhile to safe HM further embarrasment.It is not
her doing,she probably doesn't know halve herself in this case either.

 

[LadyCat]

I doubt HM has a clue how much the upkeep on her boat is. After all, it was a gift and the gift was provisional on the state agreeing to maintain it. If the funds are being fiddled with and/or misappropriated it is a certainty Queen Beatrix has absolutely nothing to do with it and no knowledge of it. Sad that the PM and others in the government are not coming forward to make this clear to the public. Still I wonder if any reasonable person can think HM responsible. Then again the world is full of unreasonable people.

Cat

 

[Empress]

It is quite impossible for that little boat to absorb that lmuch in maintenance. At that rate they probably could have bought several more boats over and had a fleet in the last few years.

I never understand why it costs so much in one year for the upkeep of such a boat, regarding the Norwegian boat. It's a more than a little ridiculous.

 

[Earl of Richmond]

Yes I agree

It makes no sense for the Dutch royals to have a royal yacht anyway. I thought the reason for a royal yacht is for official and private functions. Sense the dutch royals aren't using the yacht like the danish royals for official functions. is no reason to pay that much for that little boat.

 

[PadThaiPrincess]

They have to be joking about that figure with that size boat!

 

[lucien]

For our RF to have a yacht is absolutely appropiate being the sea going Nation we always have been,and still are.

The costs.A tad too much,but not HM's doing.I even wonder if she knew all,as I said before in this thread.There 's
some hocus pocus with the Royal Dutch Navy yard in Den Helder.

Btw,we,small as we are as a country in size,have a huge navy,it's bigger then the belgian,and certainly larger then the Luxembourgian.

 

[Marengo]

As posted by Joris on the Benelux Royals MB:

Dutch RTL News demands by means of legal summary proceedings full clearity on the real expenses made from public funds on HM's yacht De Groene Draeck which they have asked for a long time ago from the Minister of Defense Van Middelkoop, this in connection with of the Dutch Governance Tranparancy Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur). There is still an amount of EUR 120,000 unaccounted for in the audit's report of the Ministry of Justice which was published a while ago and about which Parliament was informed wrongly. RTL News is sick and tired of the relucting attitude from the authorities to provide a specific report accounting for all costs. "Citizens have the right to know what happens with public financial means." The Complaints Commission of the Ministry of Defence agreed with RTL News regarding RTL's demands to give further transparancy.

 

[Jacknch]

It's a lovely sail boat and I agree that it is entirely appropriate for HM Queen Beatrix to use it both for pleasure and on official engagements. I do not believe that the cost of maintaining such a craft would be so high. Here in Britain, we lost the Royal Yacht Britannia because of maintenance costs which were in the millions. It's ashame though because like the Netherlands we are a seafaring nation too.

 

[Marengo]

Well, HM's boat is hardly on the same level as the life-saving boats of the Britannia, let alone the Britannia itself. It is just a leisure sailing boat, like many others (who are well-off) have in this country. At the moment the discussion is absent, since everybody is waiting for the PM to come with the promissed financial report. But the PM takes his time, presumably because there are difficulties in getting all the departments to show/find out the exact costs etc.

 

[Marengo]

Queen beatrix has decided to pay herself for the extra maintanence costs of her sail boat, the 'Groene Draeck', the next two years It is estimated that that will be E. 326.000,- . The ministery of Defence will still pay for the regular upkeep of the boat, which will be E. 47.000,-. Queen Beatrix received the boat as a present for her 18th birthdya, and part of the present was that the state would pay for the upkeep too. However, in 2007 controvercy arose when the costs of the upkeep were published.

A wise decision of HM, another discussion about the costs, especiaslly in a time of economic crisis and budget costs, is the last thing the monarchy needs. Still, I am puzzled why it costs so much money to paint/ clean a boat like this. Many people have simular boats. The upkeep seems almost as expensive as the boat itself would be, if it was on sale.

nrc.nl - Binnenland - Koningin betaalt zelf extra onderhoud De Groene Draeck

 

[muriel]

Queen beatrix has decided to pay herself for the extra maintanence costs of her sail boat, the 'Groene Draeck', the next two years It is estimated that that will be E. 326.000,- . The ministery of Defence will still pay for the regular upkeep of the boat, which will be E. 47.000,-. Queen Beatrix received the boat as a present for her 18th birthdya, and part of the present was that the state would pay for the upkeep too. However, in 2007 controvercy arose when the costs of the upkeep were published.

A wise decision of HM, another discussion about the costs, especiaslly in a time of economic crisis and budget costs, is the last thing the monarchy needs. Still, I am puzzled why it costs so much money to paint/ clean a boat like this. Many people have simular boats. The upkeep seems almost as expensive as the boat itself would be, if it was on sale.

nrc.nl - Binnenland - Koningin betaalt zelf extra onderhoud De Groene Draeck

Relatively few countries in this day and age would be willing to pay for a royal yatch - that is the sad reality of the day.

 

[Hereditary Thane]

Along with the British monarch, Queen Beatrix is one of the richest women in the world. When it comes to generosity, perhaps the Dutch sovereign could honour her people by paying for her yacht (the Dutch people are proud their sovereign has a royal yacht, but they have many demands on their own purses) and keeping royal status. I do not know, but is the yacht used for disadvantaged Dutch youngsters when not in use by the royal family? As the clansmen of the great chief McNeil of Bara boasted, "McNeil has his own boat!"

 

[Melibea]

I don't see why it's sad

 

[Lumutqueen]

Just what I was thinking.

The yacht is used for both royal and private events?
Beatrix has decided to pay for some of the costs and the government will pay the other half? Have I got that right.

 

[COUNTESS]

In this day and age, when someone who has a great deal, expects people who have far less, to chip in for an extravagance, the sad part is the other way round. If you want a boat, pay for it. Elizabeth could buy multiple yachts and pay for them, she choose not to. It is ridiculous to ask others to pay for your luxury.

 

[Mermaid1962]

A royal yacht is transport with a lot of prestige. It's exciting to see a Royal Yacht arriving with the flags flying. They can be used for other things besides carrying royal families on vacation. They can be used during Royal tours as meeting spaces for guests and diplomatic events. They're convenient when there are Royal visits to areas with a lot of coast. Britannia was able to be used as a hospital ship if need be.

I don't see why it's sad