IT'S as English as warm beer and cricket on the green - the sight of Royals taking to the water in the annual end-of-season fun at Cowes Week.

But the regatta's most famous patron - Prince Philip - may well have to curtail his traditional Solent jaunt this year. He can't find a suitable resting-place for his sea boots.

Following the retirement of the royal yacht Britannia (now a tourist attraction in Leith), the millionaire philanthropist Sir John Paul Getty had stepped into the breach for the past two summers, offering his 271ft yacht Talitha G for the Duke of Edinburgh.

But this year is different. This year, Sir John Paul is heading for the Mediterranean sun rather than the summer squalls of the Solent - and he's taking his £25 million yacht with him.

So, without a suitable berth on the water, Prince Philip may have to turn his gaze shorewards. He has some options. Traditionally, he attends the Royal Yacht Squadron's ball in Cowes marking the end of the week-long festivities. The Pukka Club, of which he is Admiral, has special rooms for members.

In the past, they have been used by luminaries including former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath. Yet in former generations, royal family members faced with such a dilemma could always turn to their own Island bolthole - Queen Victoria had Osborne House, her daughter Beatrice had Carisbrooke Castle, while King Edward VII is reputed to have frequented the comfortable home of a mistress at Cowes.

Another option is The Prospect - the prominent seafront home owned by Prince Philip's late friend Sir Max Aitken, the son of newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook.

Remarkable for its jaunty pink shade, private jetty and prime waterfront position, the home - which is still owned by a Beaverbrook family trust fund - could be pressed into service.

The Duke of Edinburgh could even look around the adjoining Sir Max Aitken Museum and its vast amount of nautical memorabilia, including, ironically, scores of items taken from old royal yachts.

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