Prince Philip Puts In Plea for City of Adelaide Clipper
In a rare radio interview, recorded to mark the 40th anniversary of the rescue of Brunel’s SS Great Britain, now a major tourist attraction in the dock where she was built in Bristol, the Duke of Edinburgh focussed attention on the clipper ship City of Adelaide, still abandoned on a slipway in Scotland.
Asked about the problems of raising funds for ship preservation, Prince Philip said “As long as I’ve been alive there’s never been a good moment to raise money,” and added: “We’ve still got a horrendous problem with the City of Adelaide, which belongs to the Scottish Maritime Museum, but it’s caught in a sort of trap and a timewarp… it’s now become a listed building but they can’t raise the money to do anything with it. I think it’s a great pity.”
The interview with Prince Philip was broadcast on Radio 4’s Sunday-morning Broadcasting House programme, and is available on BBCi-player. SS Great Britain was rescued from the Falkland Islands, and towed back to the UK, arriving in Bristol this day, 5 July, in 1970.