HMS Agincourt will be the newest submarine in the Astute Class fleet (Image: Daily Express)
King Charles personally ordered the renaming of Navy submarine HMS Agincourt to avoid upsetting the French.
The Monarch stepped in to overturn the submarine’s original name – which had been given the green light by Queen Elizabeth in 2018.
Instead the £1.5 billion sub will now be called HMS Achilles.
The Daily Express has been told that the King made his intervention last year.
His Majesty was understood to be concerned that naming the under-construction hunter-killer sub after the 1415 battle would remind the French of their defeat to the British.
A source familiar with the renaming decision said: “The King personally stepped in and made it clear the name had to be changed because he didn’t want to upset the French.”
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King Charles III with President of France, Emmanuel Macron (Image: PA)
The name-changing process then got “snarled up in Whitehall”, the source said, but “resurfaced” under the new Labour government.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the story.
A spokesman said: “This would be a matter for the Royal Navy.”
Typically, the Ships’ Names and Badges Committee suggests names to the Navy Board, which presents its selection to the Defence Secretary for sign off.
The names are submitted to the monarch, as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, for approval.
The Royal Navy would not say why the name had been changed.
A spokesperson said: “We are proud of our nation’s rich military history and the many famous battles fought.
“The seventh boat in the Astute class is to be called Achilles – a name which is particularly appropriate this year as we mark the VE and VJ Day 80th anniversaries. Achilles received battle honours during the Second World War.
“The name was proposed by the Royal Navy Ships’ Names and Badging Committee and approved by His Majesty the King.”
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: “Why don’t we just go the full hog and rename the English Channel the French Channel?
“Anyone who thinks this is a good idea needs to go and have a lie down in a dark room. Utter woke rubbish.”
Sir Gavin Williamson, the then defence secretary, announced in 2018 that the Ministry of Defence had signed a £1.5 billion contract to build a seventh Astute-class hunter-killer submarine called HMS Agincourt.
That would have made it the sixth Royal Navy vessel to have been named after the battle in October 1415, when the English, led by Henry V, defeated a larger French force.
It is recognised as one of England’s greatest military victories and provided the backdrop to William Shakespeare’s Henry V, a play in which the monarch famously declares “once more unto the breach”.
News of the name change sparked outrage earlier this week, before it was known the King ordered the change, with the decision being blamed on “woke” Navy Chiefs.
Sir Gavin said: “It is so pathetic that the Government is so ashamed of our history that they are literally renaming it. Next they will probably want to rename HMS Queen Elizabeth for fear the Spaniards might be upset about the Armada.
Another former Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, tweeted: “Renaming the HMS Agincourt is nothing short of sacrilege. This submarine carries a name that honours a defining moment in British history.
“Under Labour, woke nonsense is being put ahead of tradition and our Armed Forces’ proud heritage.”
Ex-defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace also hit out, telling Times Radio the French would not have been offended by the name.
He said: “We’re very close to the French. The French are one of our strongest allies. They don’t get put off by names like that. I mean, that shows a very pathetic grasp of foreign policy and relationships.”
Former NATO commander Chris Parry, who has slammed the decision to rename the submarine, said he would be “very surprised” if the King had intervened.
“It wouldn’t have been wise for him to do so,” he said.
King Charles III was behind the name change of the £1.5bn sub (Image: PA)
Queen Elizabeth II had given the green light to the submarine’s name in 2018 (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Downing Street has refused to be drawn on why the name Agincourt had been dropped.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The name was proposed by the Names and Badging Committee and approved by His Majesty the King. I obviously can’t get into any more detail on that.”
Six Royal Navy ships in the past have been named after Achilles, the great warrior from Greek mythology.
One of those vessels received battle honours during the Second World War at both the River Plate and Okinawa.
An earlier HMS Achilles was involved against French and Spanish fleets during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
It is not the first time the Royal family have have been enatngled in a diplomatic storm.
In 2023 His Majesty wore a tie with a pattern based on the Greek flag – after a week-long row between Rishi Sunak and the Greek PM over the Elgin Marbles.
Buckingham Palace suggested it was just a random choice of ties.
The King has family connections with Greece – his father, the late Prince Philip, was born in Greece and was a member of the Greek royal family.
In 2017, with fierce debates running about Brexit, there were claims that the late Queen had opened Parliament wearing a hat that resembled the European Union flag.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, she was pictured meeting Canadian premier Justin Trudeau, standing in front of a vase full of blue and yellow-coloured flowers, the Ukrainian national colours.
