The Queen looks set to relive her 80th birthday celebrations of 2006 by chartering her favourite cruise ship Hebridean Princess.
Travel agents were told this week that customers booked on the Hebridean Island Cruises ship for sailings on July 22 and July 29 were being offered alternative options.
The duration, timing and late notice of the change of itineraries all indicate a royal charter.
The Queen traditionally leaves London in late July, relocating to Balmoral until October time.
In 2006, her week-long birthday cruise around the Scottish western isles, on which she was joined by many of her family, started on July 21 and came just before her annual stay at Balmoral.
All Leisure Group chairman Roger Allard confirmed the cancellation of the cruises was due to a “special two-week charter” but refused to confirm the Queen had chartered the ship.
“We do not take these matters lightly. Customers are being compensated generously and being offered alternative dates,” Allard said.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: “The Queen hosts garden parties in late July [although no confirmed dates have been published], she then goes to Balmoral for August and September.
“Other than saying this, I would not be able to comment on whether the Queen plans to charter Hebridean Princess.”
All Leisure Group did not own the Hebridean Princess in 2006 when the Queen chartered the 30-cabin, 49-passenger former car ferry.
Although the national press had fun in 2006 pointing out the Queen had hired a former car ferry, Hebridean Princess is classified as a luxury vessel offering a “stately home” ambiance.
The ship was bought last year after the cruiseline that operated it ceased trading.
The 2006 royal charter was the first time the Queen had taken a cruise since the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in 1997.
The two cancelled cruises are a ‘Footloose to the Northern Isles’ guided walks sailing, and a ‘Home from the North’ cruise from the Orkney Isles to Oban.
Picture: Tim Rooke / Rex Features