Two days after he met the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at his Sandringham estate, King Charles was photographed on the bridge of HMS Prince of Wales. It was a clever move by the navy’s top brass to invite him. They know that the aircraft carrier, and her sister, HMS Queen Elizabeth, are being questioned as luxuries Britain can ill afford. They are completely unsuited to modern warfare. As if to acknowledge the point, while defence chiefs struggle to find weapons desperately needed by Ukraine, including basic ammunition, they are sending the Prince of Wales to “fly the flag” in south-east Asia.
The carriers, the largest warships built for the navy, cost more than £6bn, well above the original estimate of under £4bn. Maintaining and repairing the ships, hit by serious mechanical problems over their short lifespan, has already cost nearly £1bn.
