She was never a white elephant in my opinion, though our Navy made a mstake in buying her, we should built more frigates as anti subamraine warfare was for more important.

At the time of her reconstruction she had the best radar fit on any British cruiser as well as having her guns under director control.

The Americans hated her on at least one ocassion shooting down the target drone.

The problem was her refit did not include the machinery and living spaces which led to her demiose in 1965.

A bit of a white elephant - a good looking white elephant but still a white elephant.
More here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Royalist_(89)

HMNZS ROYALIST C89
arrived in Japan for scrapping in January 1968

What happened to her?