Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia and why was it decommissioned?
Queen Elizabeth’s farewell to the Royal Yacht in 1997 was one of the only occasions in her 70-year-reign that Her Majesty publicly shed a tear.
Almost 25 years ago, HMY Britannia left Portsmouth for a farewell tour around the UK . It went to six major ports across the UK, including Glasgow.
Why was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned and where is it today?
Why was it decommissioned?
The Royal Yacht was decommissioned in 1994 by John Major’s Government because “the costs were too great”, according to the official website.
The decision was made after the Royal Yacht was used for a long and successful journey spanning 44 years and travelling more than one million miles across the globe.
The issue of a new royal yacht became a political issue in the run-up to the 1997 General Election, when the new Labour Government came into power.
After the election, Tony Blair’s Government confirmed in October 1997 there would be no replacement for Britannia.
It marked the end of a long tradition of British royal yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II.
Where is the HMY Britannia?
Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland .
Today, the Royal yacht is open to curious visitors and welcomes more than 300,000 visits each year.
Britannia was launched in 1953 from the John Brown and Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland .
Its purpose was to serve the Royal Family and it was the first to be built with complete ocean-going capacity, designed as a royal residence to entertain guests around the world.
For more than 44 years, it travelled more than one million miles with Her Majesty for state visits, official receptions, royal honeymoons, and relaxing family holidays.
Britannia quickly became one of the most famous ships in the world and now stands as a majestic symbol of Great Britain.
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Mon 18 Nov 2024
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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned? Where it is moored now and the history of the ship
The yacht is now a permanent visitor attraction in port leith, edinburgh.
Season five of The Crown starts in 1991 with the fictional Queen all-but-demanding a new Royal Yacht from then-Prime Minister John Major.
The luxurious yacht was a mainstay for Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , and comfortably carried the royals and dignitaries across the globe between 1953 and 1997.
King Charles II first launched the idea that a personal boat was essential for a ruling monarch, and by the time Elizabeth II acceded to the throne the Royal Yacht had evolved into a vessel of opulence, designed for long journeys and luxurious holiday cruises.
The Royal Yacht Britannia had spacious cabins, an onboard car garage, sun lounge, drawing room, plush bedrooms and amenities for 220 crewmembers (including several bars and pubs).
What happened to the Royal Yacht Britannia?
The first episode of the new season of The Crown shows the Queen lobbying for a new boat to replace the out-dated Royal Yacht Britannia. However, the replacement vessel never came to fruition.
In 2018, The Times reported that the Queen had “secretly lobbied Whitehall” in 1995, when senior Buckingham Palace official, Sir Kenneth Scott, wrote to the Cabinet Office saying that the Queen would “very much welcome” a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia.
The letter, found in the National Archive, said: “I have deliberately taken a back seat in recent correspondence, since the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the Government and since the last thing I would like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht’.
“At the same time I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the palace in no way implies that Her Majesty is not deeply interested in the subject; on the contrary, the Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st Century the kind of service which Britannia has provided for the last 43 years.”
The Queen was later photographed crying as the boat moored in Portsmouth after its final journey.
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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned?
Despite the monarch’s love of the yacht, Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 after Tony Blair was voted into power.
However, Boris Johnson imagined a new Royal Yacht to replace Britannia . The project was later scrapped – making it the fourth plan of his to have been axed at a total cost of more than £51m to the British taxpayer.
Rishi Sunak abandoned plans for the flagship, which would have been used to drive trade deals in the post-Brexit Britain , as he embarked on an agenda of cutting spending in the Autumn Statement .
Building the ship, which was set to launch by the end of 2024, would have cost in the region of £250m.
Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia now?
The yacht is now a permanent attraction in Port Leith, Edinburgh, and welcomes up to 300,000 visitors a year.
There was controversy over the siting of the ship, with some arguing that it would be better moored on the River Clyde, where it was built, than in Edinburgh. However, the ship’s positioning in Leith coincided with a redevelopment of the harbour area, and the advent of Scottish devolution.
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