I knew somehow it'd be the RAF's fault.
No, don't go looking at RN top brass who are so driven to get their new white elephants they've raped the rest of the service(s) just to get them.
Perhaps the RN should have offered to take over the Harrier fleet so it could have an aircraft to operate off their new carriers until the point something else is procured, or more likely, the carriers are sold. No the RN wouldn't want to do that. They'd much rather piggy-back the RAF budget for their FJ needs, all the while pouring scorn on the very service that is stopping the FAA disappearing completely.
The RN wanted carriers more than anything else it seems and it looks like for a while they might have them. The expression, "be careful what you wish for, you just might get it" seems strangely apt right now.