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'The Crown': Did the Queen Really Demand That the Public Pay for the Britannia Yacht Refurb?

In season five of the Netflix drama, the Queen asks Prime Minister John Major to intervene. This is what actually happened

In episode one, series five of The Crown , a GP asks a “rather personal” question of the Queen (Imelda Staunton): is Balmoral her favourite residence? She demurs to answer, and instead the scene cuts to a majestic yacht, the HMY Royal Britannia, sailing somewhere in the Irish sea, presumably up to Scotland.

Five-star service? Try 10-star service on board this boujie boat: silver service suppers by candlelight; landscape painting sessions on the portside deck, a waiting staff of hundreds. Well, who wouldn’t love it? Try the British public, when, in the middle of a global recession, they were expected to shoulder a not-so-slight refurb costing £14.745 million (according to papers held by The Crown ’s Prince Phillip, Jonathan Pryce).

But while the Queen is seen asking – nay, telling – the then-PM John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) that her royal subjects will foot the bill in Peter Morgan's series, how much of this is true, and what happened to the luxury yacht in the end?

Royal Yacht Club

King Charles II first kicked off the idea that a personal boat was essential to the ruling monarch in 1660, and by the time the tradition was passed on to HRH Elizabeth II in 1953, it had evolved into the most luxury of ships.

The Queen launched the yacht in 1953, a 126-metre beast that could accommodate up to 250 guests, manned by 21 officers from the Royal Navy and 250 Royal Yachtsmen. The maiden voyage in 1954 took Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta to meet their parents, and over the years the boat entertained everyone from presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to Nelson Mandela. Interestingly, the boat also doubled as a nuclear shelter for the Royals, who would have taken shelter in it off the coast of north-west Scotland, in case of an emergency.

While the yacht was mainly used for maritime jollies – Charles and Diana honeymooned on it in 1981, while the rest of the royal family used it for their annual fortnight jaunt to the west coast of Scotland, also known as their Western Isles Tour – it was also utilised to evacuate 1,000 people from Aden, Yemen, during a civil war in 1986.

However, in 1994, the Conservative government, then headed up by John Major, announced that the yacht would be lowering its anchor for the last time, due to the exorbitant running costs. Viscount Cranborne, House of Lords, said at the time: “The yacht last underwent a major refit in 1987. A further refit at an estimated cost of some £17 million would be necessary in 1996–97 but would only prolong her life for a further five years. In view of her age, even after the refit she would be difficult to maintain and expensive to run. It has therefore been decided to decommission "Britannia" in 1997.”

However, by 1997, and with a general election looming, the idea of royal yacht became a contentious issue, and the Tories declared they would recommission the yacht if they were re-elected. According to The Guardian at the time, the Queen was “furious” that the royal family was “dragged into the centre of the election campaign, just as it is fighting to restore its public image.”

“At the same time I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the palace now 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.”

Speaking to the Daily Express , Professor Murphy, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, said of his letter discovery: “It is clear that behind the scenes the palace, which had been closely informed of the progress of discussions, was keen to keep the issue alive and was putting discreet pressure on Whitehall to come up with some alternative proposals.”

While The Crown goes a step further and shows the Queen putting her foot down to demand that John Major’s party – and the public – should pay for the refurb and to keep the boat on high seas, it’s highly unlikely this meeting ever took place. In 2003, the Sunday Telegraph quoted a source that claimed the monarch would have never put pressure on the government over a politically sensitive subject: “Neither the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh have ever expressed an opinion on the way the issue was handled and nor would they do so.”

Britannia was eventually decommissioned in 1997, after Tony Blair and Labour were voted into power, ​​and its final trip was to convey the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, and the Prince of Wales back from Hong Kong after its handover to the People's Republic of China. The Queen was later captured shedding a tear when it moored up in Portsmouth. The yacht is now a permanent visitor attraction in Port Leith, Edinburgh, and gets up to 300,000 shipmates a year.

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What Happened To The Royal Yacht Britannia?

The Crown season five begins and ends with the same plot point: The Royal Yacht Britannia. The vessel serves as a – fairly obvious – metaphor in the first episode, where Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth describes it as “a floating, seagoing version of me.” The problem with her metaphorical marine self? It’s in desperate need of multi-million pound repairs. 

She asks British prime minister John Major, played by Jonny Lee Miller, whether the government might be able to help foot the bill. He, in turn, asks if the royal family might front the cost, given the public pushback they both might receive if such a seemingly extravagant project was approved. In the final episode of the season (a note to the reader: spoilers will follow), Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth agree to decommission the yacht after Prince Charles’s trip to Hong Kong.

The Crown is known for taking much of its plot material from real-life events. In the case of the Royal Yacht Britannia, though – what really happened to the boat, and how much political controversy did it really cause?

To go back to the beginning, King George VI first commissioned the royal yacht that would become the Britannia in 1952. It was an exciting project, as the previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria, and was rarely used. Then, during the early 20th century, England was mostly at war, and making a massive, slow-sailing luxury ship would be a massive security risk in international waters. 

The Royal Yacht Britannia, George decided, should both be an extravagant vessel and a functional one, able to double as a hospital if times of war were to arise again. In 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth christened the ship with a bottle of wine, as champagne was still seen as too extravagant post-war. In 1954, she set sail for the first time.

The Royal Yacht fulfilled many functions, most of them leisurely. Over the years, the boat hosted four royal honeymoons, including that of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, as well as many family vacations. In 1969, after his investiture as the Prince of Wales, Charles hosted an intimate party on board to celebrate. (Newspapers at the time wrote that he danced with his dear friend Lucia Santa Cruz – the very person who eventually introduced him to Camilla Parker Bowles.)

It also served as a grandiose mode of transport for many royal visits. In 1959, for example, Britannia sailed to Chicago to celebrate the recently opened St Lawrence seaway in Canada, and President Eisenhower joined her on board. Twenty years later, she sailed to Abu Dhabi for her first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, where she held a grand dinner for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

And although Queen Elizabeth's reign was not during wartime, the royal yacht did execute a humanitarian mission, as King George VI had always planned for: In 1986, it sailed to Aden to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Yemen.

The New York Times once described the 412-foot Britannia as “an ordinary yacht what Buckingham Palace is to the house next door.” It wasn’t an exaggeration – Britannia was essentially a floating palace. It had a drawing room, a dining room, two sitting rooms, as well as galleys and cabins for all the officers. The stateroom interiors were just as ornate as any other royal estate, while the bedrooms – which all had their own bathrooms and dressing rooms – were designed to feel surprisingly personal. 

“Within the royal apartments, however, the regal elegance gives way to the homey, patched elbow chic of an English country house, with flowered chintz slipcovers, family photographs, and rattan settees, interspersed with the occasional relic of Empire – shark’s teeth from the Solomon Islands here, a golden urn commemorating Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar there,” the New York Times found when it boarded the ship in 1976.

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. Politicians raised questions about its financial value as far back as 1954, when two MPs lobbied for an investigation on why the yacht’s refurbishment would cost £5.8 million, accusing the royal family of waste and extravagance. A government committee later dismissed the accusations. In 1994, the Conservative government ruled the yacht too costly to refurbish, when repairs came in at a whopping 17 million, but then briefly walked back on their decision a few years later. 

However, when Tony Blair’s Labour government won the election, and the new government once again declined to pay for Britannia. Britannia’s final journey was to far-flung Hong Kong in 1997, as Prince Charles turned over the British colony back to the Chinese at the end of Britain’s 99-year lease. When they finally decommissioned the boat that summer, the queen cried – one of the few times she’s shown emotion in public. The boat had logged over one million nautical miles.

Today, Britannia sits permanently docked in Edinburgh. Visitors can take tours of its grand galleys, or even rent it out for events. Yet, despite its retirement, the concept of the royal yacht lives on: In 2021, Boris Johnson floated the idea of a new boat. However, a mere eight days ago, Rishi Sunak has scrapped the project – showing that, even now, the concept remains a controversial one.

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The Story Behind the Royal Family's Yacht, Britannia

The ship hosted four royal honeymoons in its 44 years of service.

Often referred to as the last royal yacht, the Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, and despite some efforts , there are no signs of a new one in the near future. Though its seafaring days may be behind it (the ship now serves as a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland), the Britannia remains an important artifact and a peek behind the curtain of royal life—it even garnered a prominent place in the fifth season of The Crown . Below, a few of its most notable moments throughout history.

It was the first royal yacht designed for ocean travel.

The ship was built by John Brown & Co at the same shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland in the same location the famous ocean liners the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary were constructed. With 12,000 horsepower, the ship could travel at a maximum 22.5 knots (approximately 25 miles per hour), ideal for ocean-going diplomacy. Prior to its launch in 1953, the royal family used ships from the Royal Navy or even passenger liners for the overseas portions of the royal tour.

In its 44 years of service, the HMY Britannia traveled around 1.1 million miles.

It was commissioned just two days before the death of King George VI.

The King was already in failing health by the time the designs for the HMY Britannia were submitted, and the hope was that traveling might help alleviate some of his symptoms. However, just two days after the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland received the order the King passed away on February 6, 1952.

It would take just over a year for the ship to be completed, during which time its name remained a secret—it wasn't announced until the ship's official launch in April of 1953, less than two months before the Queen's coronation . Elizabeth cracked a bottle of English wine (in the post-war era, champagne was considered too extravagant for the launch of a ship) and announced, "I name this ship Britannia … I wish success to her and all who sail in her."

It was created to double as a hospital.

When Britannia was first envisioned, less than a decade after the end of World War II, the designers sought to make it as functional as possible, crafting a space that could be converted from an ocean-going royal residence to a seafaring hospital during any possible future wartime. The main veranda was laid out and re-enforced so that it could support a helicopter landing and the laundry was made much larger than on a standard naval vessel to accommodate the potential patients. Though the ship was never actually put to that purpose, it was pressed into service on a rescue mission to help evacuate European nationals from South Yemen in 1986.

The ship was home to a lot of history.

Long before it became a floating museum, the Britannia had an eye for history. The gold and white binnacle housed on the ship's veranda deck was originally part of the HMY Royal George , a royal yacht that served Queen Victoria . Likewise, some of the bed linens used by Queen Elizabeth aboard the vessel were originally made for Victoria's bed for one of the previous royal yachts.

Britannia's steering wheel was lifted from her namesake, the racing yacht HMY Britannia , built in 1893 for King Edward VII .

It was redesigned to be less opulent.

Despite the sense of luxury that the term "royal yacht" inspires, the Queen and Prince Philip were actually concerned when they began overseeing the project in 1952 that the original interior design plans by the design firm McInnes Gardner & Partners were too lavish for a country still recovering from the war. The interiors were ultimately redesigned by Sir Hugh Casson and received very minimal updates throughout her 44 years of service.

But it still had homey touches—by royal standards.

Suffice to say that even low-key royal living is a fairly high class. In addition to the 56-seat State Dining Room, which hosted luminaries including Winston Churchill, Noel Coward, Nelson Mandela, and multiple US Presidents, the ship also sported a formal staircase where the Queen would greet guests, separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for both Her Majesty and the Duke of Edinburgh, and a phone system designed to match the unique configurations of Buckingham Palace's telephones.

In the early years of the Britannia's life it was also home to the Queen's Rolls-Royce Phantom V which was hoisted and lowered from a special garage compartment at port so that the Queen could drive her own car at each location. The space was ever so slightly too small, forcing the bumpers to be removed in order to get it into the garage without damage and then refitted when the car was removed. Ultimately Elizabeth began using cars provided for her at port instead and the garage was converted into a storage area for beer.

The steering crew couldn't see where they were going.

Life on board the HMY Britannia was far from typical for her crew. To begin with, due to the prestige and pressure of the position, the commanding officer of the royal yacht was always a flag officer, most commonly a Rear Admiral, although the first two to serve were Vice Admirals, and Britannia 's final CO was a Commodore.

While working, the crew reportedly used hand signals to communicate rather than shouting orders, in order to maintain a sense of quiet and calm for the royal residents. It was also the last ship in the royal navy where the crew members slept in hammocks, a practice that they maintained until 1973.

Perhaps the most unusual element of the ship's functioning, though, was the steering. While on most ships, the steering wheel sits on the bridge, overlooking the front of the vessel, Britannia 's was on the deck below, in the wheelhouse, which meant that the yachtsmen who were actually doing the steering couldn't see where they were going. The crew got around this rather surprising pitfall by using voice pipes from the bridge to confer navigational orders.

It was a royal honeymoon essential.

No fewer than four royal couples celebrated their honeymoons in the HMY Britannia 's honeymoon suite (the only room onboard with a double bed.)

Princess Margaret started the tradition in 1960 for her Caribbean honeymoon with Anthony Armstrong-Jones , a quiet, formal affair where dinners were taken in full evening dress every night. Things didn't go quite as smoothly for Princess Anne on her honeymoon with Captain Mark Phillips in 1973—storms and 20-foot waves left the couple stricken with seasickness for the first week of their Caribbean cruise. Prince Charles and Princess Diana famously spent their 1981 honeymoon on a Mediterranean cruise aboard the yacht. The crew managed to duck the press so efficiently they garnered the nickname "the ghost ship." The final royal honeymoon aboard the Britannia was taken by Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson , Duchess of York in 1986 when the couple traveled around the Azores.

And a family vacation spot.

In addition to her diplomatic duties on royal tours and her service as a post-wedding retreat, the Britannia was also a vessel for family vacations. During the summer months, the royal family would often take off on what became known as the Western Isles tour, cruising around the western isles of Scotland. During the trip, the family would play games and have barbecues on the islands. The stairway off of the veranda was sometimes even converted into a waterslide for the younger royals. The tour often included a stop off at the Castle of Mey to visit the Queen Mother, then making berth in Aberdeen so that the Queen could travel to her favorite summer home, Balmoral .

The Queen openly wept when HMY Britannia was decommissioned in 1997.

With so many memories around the yacht, it's not hard to understand why the decommissioning of the Britannia was upsetting for the royal family. Though plans were initially drawn up for a replacement yacht, the government ultimately determined not to fund the effort. After the Queen officially took her leave of it in 1997, the ship was placed in the port of Leith in Scotland where it serves as a floating museum and events venue . All of the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01, the exact time that Her Majesty disembarked for the last time.

It was used for a reception for Zara Phillips before her wedding.

Though it's no longer used as their private vessel, the Britannia 's connection to the royal family didn't end in 1997. In 2011 on the night before her wedding, the Queen's oldest granddaughter Zara Phillips contracted the ship for a reception. Though her grandmother wasn't in attendance Zara celebrated her upcoming marriage to Mike Tindall onboard along with her mother and her cousins Prince Harry, Prince William and Kate, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice.

Lauren Hubbard is a freelance writer and Town & Country contributor who covers beauty, shopping, entertainment, travel, home decor, wine, and cocktails.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia Has a Fascinating History—Here's Everything You Should Know

It doesn't get more majestic than Queen Elizabeth II's yacht.

“Britannia is special for a number of reasons,” Prince Phillip once said. “Almost every previous sovereign has been responsible for building a church, a castle, a palace or just a house. The only comparable structure in the present reign is Britannia. As such she is a splendid example of contemporary British design and technology.”

Although she retired from service in 1997, today the Britannia, one of many of the world's grandest yachts , is docked in Edinburgh, where she is open as a visitors’ attraction and host of private events. Below we give you all the Royal Yacht Britannia facts you might want to know, from who owns the yacht now to why she was decommissioned to how fast she is to how to get tickets to visit. Britannia was, after all, the one place the queen said she could “truly relax,” so why not see why for yourself?

Royal Yacht Britania Facts and History

On February 4, 1952, John Brown & Co shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, received the order from the Admiralty to build a new Royal Yacht to travel the globe and double as a hospital ship in times of war, according to the royal yacht's website . King George VI passed away two days after, sadly, and so on April 16, 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth II announced the yacht’s new name as the ship was revealed.

"I name this ship Britannia,” she said. “I wish success to her and all who sail in her." Britannia was commissioned into the Royal Navy in January 1954 and by April of that year sailed into her first overseas port: Grand Harbour, Malta.

The queen and The Duke of Edinburgh worked with interior designer Sir Hugh Casson for the ship to serve as both a functional Royal Navy vessel and an elegant royal residence. Queen Elizabeth II selected deep blue for Britannia’s hull, instead of the more traditional black. Its Naval crew included 220 Yachtsmen, 20 officers, and three season officers—plus a Royal Marines Band of 26 men during Royal Tours.

All of them might have had to change uniform up to six times a day, so the laundry service on board worked nonstop. The yacht also engaged in British overseas trade missions known as Sea Days and made an estimated £3 billion for the Exchequer between 1991 and 1995 alone.

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, also named Britannia, according to Boat International , and the 126-meter ship could reach speeds of 22.75 knots, or a seagoing cruising speed of 21 knots, according to Super Yacht Times . Other fun facts: The yacht could produce her own fresh water from sea water, and shouting was forbidden aboard to preserve tranquility, favoring hand signals for Naval orders instead.

Over the next 44 years, the Britannia would sail the equivalent of once around the world for each year, in total visiting 600 ports in 135 countries. Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones were the first of four couples to honeymoon on the ship in 1960, gifting them all privacy to sail to secluded locations. Prince Charles and Princess Diana followed in 1981 on the Mediterranean as well as Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips before them in 1973 in the Caribbean and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 in the Azores.

For family vacations aboard the ship, games, treasure hunts, plays, and picnics were organized, and on warm days the children could play in an inflatable paddling pool on the Verandah Deck.

In the Sun Lounge, the queen especially enjoyed taking breakfast and afternoon tea with views through large picture windows, a space you can see replicated in the TV show The Crown. Although no filming took place on board the Britannia for the show, researchers ensured scenes aboard it were accurate. In the queen’s bedroom, the resemblance is seen down to the decorative wall light fittings and embroidered silk panel above her bed that had been specially commissioned.

In 1997, the ship was decommissioned after the government decided the costs to refit it would be too great. On its final day in her service that followed a farewell tour around the U.K., the queen openly wept as the Band of HM Royal Marines played "Highland Cathedral."

"Looking back over 44 years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction," Queen Elizabeth II said. All clocks on the ship stopped at 15:01, the exact time the Queen disembarked from the yacht for the final time, and they would remain at that time until the present.

How to Tour the Royal Yacht Britania

Today the yacht is owned by Royal Yacht Britannia Trus t, and all revenue it generates goes to the yacht’s maintenance and preservation. Ticketed entry allows you to step into state rooms like the Sun Lounge, the State Dining Room and State Drawing Room, in addition to the working side of the ship in the Crew’s Quarters, Laundry and gleaming Engine Room. Along the way you will see original artifacts from the shop—95 percent of which is on loan from The Royal Collection.

How to Visit the Royal Britania

You can visit the Britannia any day of the year on Edinburgh’s waterfront. Hours vary by season, and you can find them listed and purchase tickets on the yacht’s website . Private tours are also available, and you can visit the Royal Deck Tearoom, where the Royal Family hosted cocktail parties and receptions, for drinks, meals and scones. Additionally, the Britannia hosts special ticketed events for New Year’s and other occasions, and event spaces can be booked as well.

While you are in Edinburgh, you can also stay on the Fingal , a neighboring yacht-turned-floating-hotel, which is a seven-minute walk from the Britannia, and dine at its Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar, which serves breakfast, afternoon tea, dinner, and cocktails.

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HMS Britannia: 10 facts about Queen Elizabeth's former royal yacht

From humanitarian missions to hosting royal honeymoons, the HMS Britannia has a fascinating history serving the British Royal Family for over four decades. When she was decommissioned in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II shed a tear in a rare display of emotion. The occasion marked the end of long succession for royal yachts dating back to the reign of Charles II. As the country prepares to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee, we remember her beloved Britannia .

1. Britannia was launched in 1953

Britannia was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father and was launched from John Brown & Co. Ltd - the shipyard that built the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary cruise liners - in 1953. However, there was to be no traditional Champagne-smashing against her bow. In a post-war Britain, Champagne was considered too extravagant so instead, a bottle of Empire wine was selected to do the honours at her official launch ceremony.

2. There are three masts on board

Unlike her predecessors, Britannia possessed a more modern profile with a clipper bow and cruiser stern. The ship was designed with three masts: a 41-metre foremast, a  42-metre mainmast, and 36 metre mizzenmast. The last six metres of the main mast were placed on a hinge so she could pass under bridges.

3. Britannia logged over one million nautical miles

Between family vacations and official tours, Britannia logged over one million nautical miles, which roughly equates to one trip around the world for each of her 44 years in service.

4. The wheel was inherited

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, a 37-metre gaff-rigged cutter also named Britannia . She was a near sistership to Valkyrie II which challenged for the 1893 America's Cup, and won over 230 races in her lifetime. At the end of her life she was stripped of her spars and fittings - the wheel was saved and fitted on Britannia

5. The engine room was hyper-clean

The engine room was hyper-clean  Rumour has it that the engine room on Britannia was kept in such pristine condition that any visitors were made to wipe their feet on a door mat before entering.

6. Royal honeymoons were hosted on board

A number of royal couples chose to spend their honeymoons on Britannia given its privacy and security. Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones started the trend with a six-week sail between Mustique, Trinidad and Antigua, followed by Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, and Princess Diana and Prince Charles. The royal apartments were located on the shelter deck with access to a large veranda.

7. There were more than 200 crew on board

During royal tours, Britannia was manned by 220 yachtsmen, 21 officers and three season officers and a Royal Marine band of 26 on royal tours. Up until the 1970s, the crew had a daily ration of rum and she was the last Royal Navy vessel to have the crew sleep in hammocks.

8. Ready for war

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in times of war. Although she was never used in this capacity, she did assist in the evacuation of refugees during the South Yemen civil war. The drawing room was used as a temporary dormitory for the evacuees.

9. The golden rivet

It was common for officers to send junior crew off on a fool’s errand to search for a single "golden rivet". It became a right of passage and engrained in maritime folklore. During a state visit, so the story goes, the Queen had caught wind of this elusive rivet and was keen to see it for herself, so the crew found some gold leaf and hastily created a golden rivet to present to Her Majesty.

10. Decomission

HMS Britannia was officially retired from royal service in 1997. Britannia  is now permanently berthed in Edinburgh and has been converted into a museum. To this day, all the clocks on board remained stopped on 3.01pm which is the exact time the Queen last disembarked the vessel.

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• Item 175 - 'Queen Salote Wharf with ship alongside seen from American Wharf near Dateline Hotel, Tonga'
• Item 176 - 'One of small islands north of Nuku'alofa, Tonga'
• Item 177 - 'North coast of Tongatapu near the lagoon entrance, Tonga'
• Item 178 - 'Shipping channel marker on edge of reef, near Nuku'alofa, Tonga'
• Item 179 - 'Royal Yacht Britannia arriving at Nuku'alofa for royal visit, Tonga'
• Item 180 - 'Royal Yacht Britannia arriving at Nuku'alofa for royal visit, Tonga'
• Item 181 - 'Royal Yacht Britannia arriving at Nuku'alofa for royal visit, Tonga'
• Item 182 - 'Naval escort vessel arriving with Royal Yacht Brittania, Tonga'
• Item 183 - 'Royal Yacht Brittania moored at Queen Salote Wharf, Tonga'

Item 179 - 'Royal Yacht Britannia arriving at Nuku'alofa for royal visit, Tonga'

• John Baker slides of Tonga
• 'Royal Yacht Britannia arriving at Nuku'alofa for royal visit, Tonga'

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AU PMB PHOTO 126-179

• March 1970 (Creation)

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John Baker worked as a volunteer under the auspices of the British Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) organisation in 1964-1965. He was 18 and 19 at the time and was what was known as a ‘school leaver’ volunteer. John was attached mainly to two District Administrations to work on various local projects. August-November 1964, Baker worked as a teacher at the Geological Department’s survey school in Honiara. Then he transferred to Western District headquarters in Gizo and worked during December 1964 and January 1965 as a surveyor on the Wagina Island Gilbertese resettlement scheme. In February 1965 he transferred to Eastern District headquarters in Kira Kira where he spent six weeks working on local election preparations. He then moved back to Gizo and spent April to August 1965 travelling round, organising the construction of concrete drinking water tanks in various villages in the Roviana and Wana Wana lagoons and subsequently on the island of Ranonnga.

John Baker’s work in Solomon Islands prompted a long-term interest in the Pacific Islands and saw him work as Government Economist in Tonga in 1969-70. He later lived in Fiji and Tonga in 1971, while he undertook research for an ANU PhD on inter-island shipping services in the two countries. In 1976-77, while working in the Australian Government’s aid organisation, he was head of the Pacific Islands Section. Finally, after three years as an Australian Ambassador in Africa John Baker returned to working on the Pacific Islands when in 1991-97 he was Coordinator of the World Bank’s South Pacific Development Management Program. The program ran one-week residential management programs for senior government officials from across the region, with a number of participants later becoming heads of government in their countries.

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Original ID: Photo 5, Set Number 2/7 Tonga

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Everything you need to know about Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht Britannia

HMY Britannia by Tower Bridge. Credit: Lynda Poulter via Wikimedia Commons.

In service from 1954 until 1997, HMY Britannia is the former royal yacht of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the British throne in 1660 and had HMY Mary built for him by the Dutch East India Company, and the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being a racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893.

During her 43-year career, the yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles around the globe. Today, she is an award-winning visitor attraction and evening events venue permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh.

HMY Britannia was built in Scotland at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd. in Clydebank, West Dumbartonshire. It was launched by the Queen on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954.

She sailed on her maiden voyage from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour, Malta, on 14 April 1954, carrying Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta, to Malta in order for them to meet their parents at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth Tour.

On 20 July 1959,  Britannia  sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway en route to Chicago, where she docked, making the Queen the first Canadian monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower was aboard  Britannia  for part of this cruise; Presidents Ford, Reagan and Clinton were subsequently welcomed aboard the yacht.

Britannia  was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, with space for an estimated 200 patients. Although the ship was never used in this capacity, as she sailed down the Red Sea in January 1986, en route to Australia, she was asked to play the equally challenging role of rescue ship, to evacuate British nationals and others trapped in South Yemen, where civil war had broken out. Moreover, in the event of nuclear war, Britannia was to be used as a refuge and base of operations for the Queen. The plan, codenamed “Python system”, would have had the ship located on the northwest coast of Scotland in sea lochs with Her Majesty, the Duke of Edinburgh, and the Home Secretary safely on board.

The royal yacht played host to four royal honeymoons: Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones visited the West Indies in 1960; Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips also chose the Caribbean in 1973; Prince Charles and Princess Diana travelled around the Mediterranean in 1981 and finally the Duke and Duchess of York visited the Azores in 1986. Most recently, Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall held their pre-wedding reception on board the yacht in July 2011.

The State Drawing Room. Credit: Marianna Bozzoli.

Britannia ’s last foreign mission was to Hong Kong for the transfer of sovereignty from the United Kingdom to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997.  The ship set sail for Hong Kong in January and served to escort British Governor Christopher Patten and the Prince of Wales back to the UK.

In 1997, the Conservative government committed itself to replacing the Royal Yacht if re-elected, while the Labour Party refused to disclose its plans for the vessel. After Tony Blair’s Labour won the general election in May 1997, it announced the vessel was to be retired and no replacement would be built. The previous government had argued that the cost was justified by its role in foreign policy and promoting British interests abroad.

The Queen has since chartered the MV Hebridian Princess , a private charter cruise ship, on two separate occasions for family trips around the Scottish islands.

When HMY Britannia would come into port, blowing its foghorns, the Queen herself would reportedly imitate the foghorn noise, much to the amusement of anyone in earshot. Then she and the Duke of Edinburgh would travel ashore on the royal barge, built in 1964 to replace to previous one, which had originally belonged to the royal yacht Victoria and Albert III .

Unlike most ships, Britannia was the only ships in the world where the captain was always an Admiral.  The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy, officers were appointed for a period of two years, while enlisted crew (known as “yachtsmen”) served for one-year periods, after which they could be admitted to “The Permanent Royal Yacht Service”.  If accepted the Royal Yachtsmen were permitted to serve until they left the Royal Yacht Service or were expelled for medical or disciplinary reasons.  An attachment of Royal Marines would also be stationed on the yacht when the Royal Family was present. Service on the royal yacht attracted no extra pay, allowances or leave.

Everything was done to preserve the Royal Family’s tranquillity: most orders were not given verbally, but by hand signal; soft-soled plimsolls were worn and any work near the royal apartments had to be completed by 8.00AM.

The Queen’s Bedroom. Credit: Marianna Bozzoli.

HMY Britannia was the last ship in the Royal Navy to have hammocks in sailors’ quarters.

During her career as Royal Yacht,  Britannia  conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. In this time,  Britannia  steamed 1,087,623 nautical miles (2,014,278 km).

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History Hit Story of England: Making of a Nation

• 20th Century

10 Facts About Royal Yacht Britannia

Peta Stamper

28 nov 2022.

The 83rd and last in a long line of royal yachts, HMY Britannia has become one of the most famous ships in the world. Now permanently moored at Edinburgh’s Port of Leith, the floating palace is a visitor attraction welcoming some 300,000 people aboard each year.

For Queen Elizabeth II, Britannia was the ideal residence for state visits and peaceful royal family holidays and honeymoons. For the British public, Britannia was a symbol of Commonwealth. For the 220 naval officers who lived aboard Britannia , and the royal family, the 412-foot-long yacht was home.

Having travelled more than a million nautical miles over 44 years of service to the British Crown, Her Majesty’s beloved boat was decommissioned in 1997. Here are 10 facts about life aboard HMY Britannia.

1. Britannia was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 using a bottle of wine, not champagne

Champagne is traditionally smashed against a ship’s hull during launching ceremonies. However, in a post-war climate champagne was seen as too frivolous, so a bottle of Empire wine was used instead.

Britannia launched from the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland.

2. Britannia was the 83rd Royal Yacht

King George VI , Elizabeth II’s father, had first commissioned the royal yacht that would become Britannia in 1952. The previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria and was rarely used. The tradition of royal yachts had been started by Charles II in 1660.

George decided that the Royal Yacht Britannia should both be a regal vessel as well as a functional one.

3. Britannia had two emergency functions

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, although that function was never used. Additionally, as part of the Cold War plan Operation Candid, in the event of nuclear war the ship would become a refuge off the north-west coast of Scotland for the Queen and Prince Philip.

4. Her maiden voyage was from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour in Malta

She carried Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta to meet the Queen and Prince Philip at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth tour. The Queen stepped aboard Britannia for the first time in Tobruk on 1 May 1954.

Over the next 43 years, Britannia would transport the Queen, members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on some 696 foreign visits.

The HMY Britannia on a visit by the Queen to Canada in 1964

Image Credit: Royal Canadian Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

5. Britannia hosted some of the 20th century’s most notable figures

In July 1959, Britannia sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway to Chicago where she docked, making the Queen the first British monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight Eisenhower hopped aboard Britannia for part of the journey.

In later years, Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton would also step aboard. Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, took their honeymoon cruise on Britannia in 1981.

6. The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy

After 365 days’ service, crew members could be admitted to the Permanent Royal Yacht Service as Royal Yachtsmen (‘Yotties’) and serve until they either chose to leave or were dismissed. As a result, some yachtsmen served on  Britannia  for over 20 years.

The crew also included a detachment of Royal Marines, who would dive underneath the ship each day while moored away from home to check for mines or other threats.

7. All royal children were allocated a ‘Sea Daddy’ on board the ship

The ‘sea daddies’ were primarily tasked with looking after the children and keeping them entertained (games, picnics and water fights) during voyages. They also oversaw the children’s chores, including cleaning the life rafts.

8. There was a ‘Jelly Room’ onboard for the royal children

The yacht had a total of three galley kitchens where Buckingham Palace ‘s chefs prepared meals. Among these galleys was a chilled room called the ‘Jelly Room’ for the sole purpose of storing royal children’s jellied desserts.

9. It cost around £11 million every year to run Britannica

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. In 1994, another expensive refit for the ageing vessel was proposed. Whether or not to refit or commission a new royal yacht entirely came down to the election result of 1997. With repairs at a proposed cost of £17 million, Tony Blair’s new Labour government were unwilling to commit public funds to replace Britannica.

HMY Britannia in 1997, London

Image Credit: Chris Allen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

10. All the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01pm

In December 1997,  Britannia was officially decommissioned. The clocks have been kept at 3:01pm – the exact moment the Queen went ashore for the last time following the ship’s decommissioning ceremony, during which the Queen shed a rare public tear.

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New national flagship replacing the Royal Yacht Britannia 'to be funded through the Ministry of Defence', says Number 10

The new flagship will replace the Royal Yacht Britannia which was retired in 1997 after 44 years of service.

Political reporter @itssophiemorris

Monday 21 June 2021 17:04, UK

A new national yacht, which is reportedly set to cost £200m, will be paid for out of the Ministry of Defence's budget, Downing Street has confirmed.

The national flagship, the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, will sail the globe hosting trade talks.

The prime minister's official spokesperson said Boris Johnson hopes it will be built in the UK, but that international rules on procurement will be followed.

Mr Johnson announced the commissioning of the new flagship earlier this year , saying it would be used to promote British interests around the world as the UK seeks to build trade links post-Brexit.

The vessel will be part of and crewed by the Royal Navy, the PM said.

"Every aspect of the ship, from its build to the businesses it showcases on board, will represent and promote the best of British - a clear and powerful symbol of our commitment to be an active player on the world stage," he added.

Labour has previously called on the government to set out how the yacht will boost trade and jobs in the UK and to "focus on value for money" with regards to the project.

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Conservative Jake Berry, who is chairman of the Northern Research Group of MPs, has campaigned for the vessel to be built by Cammell Laird on Merseyside.

And at a lobby briefing on Monday, the PM's official spokesperson confirmed the new flagship will be "funded through the Ministry of Defence".

"This new national flagship will boost British trade and drive investment into the economy," he said.

"The procurement process, which is being done through the MoD, will reflect its wide-ranging use and so it will be funded through the MoD, as set out previously."

The PM's official spokesperson declined to comment on where the MoD would find the reported £200m required for the project out of its budget, but did confirm the new vessel will not be a warship.

"We will set out the exact detail in due course but this is a trade ship, it is not a military vessel," he said.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was launched by The Queen in 1953 and was retired in 1997 after completing 44 years of service.

The new national flagship is expected to be in service for around 30 years.

The yacht's name is yet to be announced, but reports have suggested it will pay homage to the Duke of Edinburgh who was Lord High Admiral from 2011 until his death earlier this year, and served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

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When Did Queen Elizabeth II Last Visit San Francisco and the Bay Area?

Queen elizabeth's visit to the bay area included a serenade by tony bennett, a meal at trader vics in emeryville and a dinner at the de young museum with president ronald reagan and the first lady., by kayla galloway • published september 8, 2022 • updated on september 8, 2022 at 11:33 pm.

Queen Elizabeth II , the longest-reigning monarch of Great Britain, died Thursday at the age of 96 after nearly seven decades of leadership and global influence. 

Charles, the queen's son, is now Britain's monarch.

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In a statement from Buckingham Palace, King Charles III said the death of Elizabeth is "a moment of the greatest sadness for me and all members of my family." 

The Queen last visited California in 1983, making stops across the Bay Area, Sacramento, Southern California and Yosemite National Park. 

Here’s a look back at the Queen's first and only visit to the Bay Area and Northern California in March of 1983.

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Queen elizabeth's visit to san francisco.

Queen Elizabeth II arrived at the San Francisco airport on March 2, 1983 with then-First Lady Nancy Reagan. 

She was met by Dianne Feinstein , the mayor of San Francisco at the time. 

In a statement Thursday, Feinstein remembered the Queen's visit fondly.

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“I remember well her visit to San Francisco in 1983 when I was mayor. I spent time with the queen at the Davies Symphony Hall and found her to be gracious and kind, a wonderful representative of her nation," the U.S. senator said .

During the Queen's Bay Area visit, she dined with President Ronald Reagan, seen below wearing a silver tiara.

The Queen received a true San Francisco welcome with a performance by singer Tony Bennett, featuring the song “I Left My Heart in San Francisco."

During her trip to San Francisco, the Queen visited at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco . An archival image shows her in the lobby of hotel located on Powell Street in Union Square.

The Queen toured the San Francisco Bay aboard her yacht, the Britannia, seen in a photo below under the Bay Bridge. 

The Queen celebrated President Reagan and the First Lady's 31st wedding anniversary aboard the boat.

Queen Elizabeth's Visit to the Silicon Valley

On March 3, 1983, the Queen visited Stanford University and the Hewlett Packard factory, the technology company based in Palo Alto.

At Stanford Queen Elizabeth dined at the Hoover House with university president Donald Kennedy.

Queen Elizabeth II visited campus on this day in 1983 during a tour of California. #Stanford125 https://t.co/nFhiIPDu3F — Stanford University (@Stanford) March 4, 2016

During a stop in Sacramento, Queen Elizabeth visited Sutter’s Fort for a glimpse into California’s Gold Rush of the 19th century. 

Queen Elizabeth continued her West Coast tour with stops in San Diego, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, Sierra Madre, Duarte, Santa Barbara, Yosemite and Seattle.

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Britannia 's predecessor, HMY Victoria and Albert III , is pictured at anchor in the Solent off Portsmouth harbor. Built for Queen Victoria , this was the first royal yacht not to be powered by sail. She was decommissioned in 1939.

© Getty Images 

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The new Royal Yacht Britannia enters the water after her launch on April 16, 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II at John Brown's shipyard on Clydebank, Scotland. The 126-m (413-ft) Britannia was designed with three masts and could reach a seagoing cruising speed of 21 knots.

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A crowd gathers to bid the Royal Yacht Britannia farewell upon her departure from Portsmouth, England, on April 14, 1954 on her maiden voyage to Malta. The vessel was ultimately bound for Tobruk, in Libya.

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On board the vessel were Prince Charles and Princess Anne, pictured here before the yacht's departure shaking hands with the Admiral Superintendent of Portsmouth dockyard. The Queen Mother is keeping an eye on the royal youngsters.

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Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh embarked on Britannia for the first time in Tobruk on May 1, 1954, at the end of the royal couple's Commonwealth tour. They are pictured with King Idris and other officials.

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London crowds gather along the banks of the River Thames to greet Britannia , with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh aboard, as it passes under Tower Bridge on its way to Westminster on May 15, 1954, at the end of its inaugural voyage.

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Chicago's July 1959 royal welcome for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh was overwhelming. Some 6,000 vessels of all sizes jammed the harbor area to greet Britannia after having sailed the newly opened St. Lawrence Seaway. Queen Elizabeth, the first British monarch to visit Chicago, is pictured being welcomed by Illinois Governor William Straton. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower had been a guest during part of the voyage, having been invited to take part in the opening ceremony of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh pass cheering Canadians and Americans during the royal couple's tour of Canada. They were in Windsor, Ontario, with  Britannia and the American city of Detroit in the backdrop.

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HMY Britannia soon proved her worth as an ideal honeymoon cruise vessel. Princess Margaret and her husband, Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon, were the first royal couple to enjoy their honeymoon at sea, in 1960. Their voyage started a tradition where the yacht could access secluded locations away from the world's press to provide just-married British royalty with the privacy they desired.

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Escorted by an armada of small craft, Britannia , bearing Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, arrives off Sydney Heads during their tour of Australia in 1963. Three escorting destroyers of the Royal Australian Navy follow in her wake.

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Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, and Earl Mountbatten on board the Britannia at Spithead on the south coast of England during the Queen's review of the 62 ships of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) fleet. This ceremony formed part of NATO's 20th-anniversary celebrations. 

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Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh admire a gift received after the monarch opened the new accommodation of Lloyd's Register of Shipping at the society's City of London headquarters. The gift was a silver model replica of the Royal Yacht Britannia .

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Queen Elizabeth II with her sons Prince Edward, Prince Andrew, and Prince Charles on the deck of the Britannia as they arrive to attend the Olympic Games on July 1, 1976 in Montreal, Canada. Absent is Princess Anne, who was an athlete competing for the British equestrian team at the Summer Olympic Games that year.

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The Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II in 1977 marked the 25th anniversary of the monarch's accession to the British throne. Among the series of year-long events was the Silver Jubilee Review of the Fleet at Spithead, off Portsmouth in southern England. Britannia sailed past dozens of Royal Navy vessels anchored in the Solent on June 28, 1977.

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Later in the summer, the Queen and Prince Philip embarked on a Commonwealth visit that first brought them to island nations such as Fiji and Tonga. Pictured is the royal couple receiving and being entertained by Fijian folk and traditional dancers on board  Britannia . The voyage continued later with longer stints in New Zealand and Australia.

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In October 1977, the Royal Yacht Britannia anchored off Road Harbor during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to the British Virgin Islands as part of her Silver Jubilee tour of the Caribbean.

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A six-nation tour of the Gulf States, the first ever by a female Head of State, took place in early 1979. The Queen and Prince Philip flew into the region before setting sail from Kuwait aboard Britannia .

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The newly-wedded Prince Charles and Diana , Princess of Wales leave Gibraltar on Britannia for their honeymoon cruise, which commenced on July 31, 1981.

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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip with US President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy on board Britannica during an official tour of America in 1983. A banquet was held on the vessel on March 4, 1983 to celebrate the Reagan's wedding anniversary.

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The Reagan's dined in Britannia 's grand dining room (pictured), which could host up to 56 guests. The dining room was set within the ship's royal apartments and included a lounge, drawing room, and guest bedrooms.

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This is the menu for dinner when Queen Elizabeth entertained President Reagan and other dignitaries on the Royal Yacht Britannia during the royal visit to San Francisco, California.

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Joining Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their 17-day tour of Italy's sights and cities in April-May 1985 was Prince William and Prince Harry. The family are seen on board Britannia at Venice.

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Many Italians described the tour as a "second honeymoon" for the royal couple. Meanwhile, cities like Venice certainly provided a beautiful and historic backdrop for HMY Britannia .

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In January 1986, Queen Elizabeth's luxury yacht rescued over 500 people of nearly 50 different nationalities from war-torn South Yemen and evacuated them to Djibouti. Britannia maneuvered close to a beach east of Aden to pick up civilians caught in the violent unrest after fighting broke out in the wake of a failed coup d'etat, which quickly escalated into civil war.

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Growing up fast, Prince William and Prince Harry wear baseball-style caps given to them by the crew of the Canadian frigate HMCS Ottawa after they toured the ship that was moored alongside Britannia on the Toronto waterfront. Charles and Diana were in Canada in late October 1991 as part of a royal tour.

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June 6, 1994 marked the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy. To mark the historic occasion, Britannia and her royal passengers joined a colorful fleet review off Portsmouth and Gosport, in southern England.

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The Queen, Heads of State, and their wives aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia for the D-Day 50th anniversary celebrations, US President Bill Clinton among them. Besides hosting politically- and diplomatically-themed functions, Britannia held numerous "Sea Days"— British overseas trade missions to promote business, trade, and industry around the globe.

© BrunoPress

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Among the many VIPs who wined and dined onboard Britannia was President Nelson Mandela, pictured here in 1995. Other guests welcomed onboard over the years include Winton Churchill and celebrities such as Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor.

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The handover ceremony of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, which marked the transfer of sovereignty over the territory from the UK to China, was the Royal Yacht's final foreign mission. Britannia had been scheduled for decommissioning.

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Britannia is pictured returning to Portsmouth in November 1997. The vessel would be decommissioned the following month. Thousands of well-wishers lined the shore and gathered at the entrance to the harbor to witness the historic moment as the grand old lady of the seas arrived at the end of her farewell tour of Britain.

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On December 11, 1997, after 44 years in royal service, Britannia was retired from the seas. The late Queen, normally undemonstrative, was seen wiping away a tear during the decommissioning service, which was also attended by Prince Philip and Prince Charles.

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HMY Britannia sailed to Scotland and began a new role as a visitor attraction moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh.

© Shutterstock 

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Britannia still hosts the occasional royal get-together. Pictured on July 29, 2011 are Kate and William arriving for an evening reception onboard the royal yacht to celebrate the impending wedding of Zara Phillips (the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II) and Mike Tindall.

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Today the Royal Yacht Britannia is one of Scotland's most popular tourist attractions.

Sources: (SuperYacht Times) (Royal Yacht Britannia) (CBC Archives) (The Royal Watcher) (United Press International) (AP News)

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Embark on a nostalgic tour of the late Queen's luxury yacht

A voyage through the history of the hmy britannia.

19/07/24 | StarsInsider

LIFESTYLE Royalty

T here's a long tradition of British royal yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II. During 44 years in royal service, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia , also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia , sailed the equivalent of once round the world for each year, calling at over 600 ports in 135 countries, including the United States of America, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Britannia was decommissioned in 1997, and has so far not been replaced. But it's worth looking back over the illustrious service performed by the royal yacht.

Click through and be reminded of when Britannia ruled the waves.

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A Tour Guide to Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh Scotland

First Royal Yacht Designed for Ocean Travel

Commissioned just two days before the death of king george vi, created to double as a hospital, home to a lot of history, redesigned to be less opulent, has homely touches by royal standards, a royal honeymoon essential, a family vacation spot, the decommissioning in 1997, features of this ship, the queen’s favorite room, royal apartments and bedrooms, naafi sweet shop, royal deck tea room, the entrance, car parking, opening time.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia is Leith's most popular attraction. Great Britain has had a very strong connection with the seas and oceans for centuries. Plan your trip for a tour of the iconic royal yacht Britannia in the beautiful city of Edinburgh in Scotland. Rated as one of the top 5 tourist attractions in the UK, this is truly a must-visit place. Here is a brief information about the story of this royal vessel, activities and things to do, along with all the facilities it has to offer.

Story of Royal Yacht Britannia

The British royal family too has the same long history of seafaring. HMY Mary (HMY standing for His or Her Majesty’s Yacht) was the first official royal yacht. It was gifted by the Dutch to Charles II in 1660. Over the centuries, the British monarchy has used 83 royal yachts including the current one, the HMY Britannia, also known as The Royal Yacht Britannia. Though the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned from royal service in 1997 and despite some efforts to get a new one, there has been no replacement for it so far. With its seafaring days long over, The Royal Yacht Britannia remains an important piece of history. It gives a sneak preview of the royal life with interesting stories behind it.

Royal Yacht Britannia was the first royal vessel that was designed for travel across oceans. John Brown & company built it in a Clydebank shipyard. It is also regarded for building famous liners Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. With 12,000 horsepower to propel it in the oceans, the ship could sail at the max — speed of 22.5 knots which was quite reasonable. Before its commissioning, the royal family used the British Naval ships or even passenger liners for their sea travel during royal tours across the commonwealth. The Royal Yacht Britannia was in royal service for 44 years and traveled 1.1 million miles throughout its life span in royal service.

The idea of having an ocean capable royal vessel was conceived. So that the royals could comfortably tour their far-flung commonwealth and with the belief that travelling may improve the failing health of the reigning King. Just two days after the order was placed to the shipbuilders, John Brown Shipyard in Scotland, the King died on 6 th Feb. 1952. The ship was built in little over a year and was officially named only during its launch in April 1953. It was just two months before the new monarch, and Queen Elizabeth was coronated. The ship was named Royal Yacht Britannia by the Queen who toasted it by opening a bottle of wine as Champagne was considered very extravagant for celebrating the launch ceremony of a ship at that time.

Envisioned to be built less than a decade post-WWII, the ship designers planned to build the ship as functional as possible so that it could be transformed from a royal ocean liner to a seafaring floating hospital during wartime. As a result, the main veranda was spaced wider and re-enforced to support helicopter landing. The laundry area was made much larger than naval vessels to accommodate wounded soldiers in the event of a war. The ship was never actually used for that purpose though. However, Royal Yacht Britannia was put to service for a mission to rescue European nationals from Yamen in 1986.

The Royal Yacht Britannia had many pieces of history on it. The white and gold binnacle in the ship’s verandah was picked up from HMY Royal George, which served Queen Victoria. Some of the Queen’s bedroom linens were originally made for her bed aboard older royal yacht.Royal Yacht Britannia had its steering wheel lifted from its namesake racing yacht HMY Britannia that was built in 1893 for King Edward VII.

Despite the sense of opulent luxury that a royal yacht exuberates, the Queen and Prince Philip, the interior plans by the ship’s original interior designers found it too lavish for a country. Still recovering from war, it got redesigned by Sir Huge Casson. The ship in her 44 years of service has received minimal updates throughout.

The low-key royal living is a fairly high class by any standards on the Royal Yacht Britannia. The floating royal home has a 56-seat state dining room which has hosted the likes of Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, many US Presidents and has a formal staircase where the Queen would greet her guests. It has separate bedrooms and sitting rooms for both the Queen and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and a telephone system with similar configurations as Buckingham palace systems. During her earlier years, The Royal Yacht Britannia used to carry the Queen’s car, a Rolls Royce Phantom V, in a special garage compartment. The space being slightly small, the car’s bumpers used to be dismantled for storage to avoid damage and refitted at the port of call. As the Queen started using the car provided for her at the port, this space was converted to a storage space for beer.

Four royal couples, starting from Princess Margaret & Anthony Armstrong Jones in 1960, have celebrated their honeymoons in the honeymoon suite of Royal Yacht Britannia. This is the only room aboard which has a double bed. Since then, Princess Anne and Capt. Mark Phillips, in 1973, Prince Charles & Princess Diana in 1981, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have famously traveled on The Royal Yacht Britannia for their respective honeymoons. Stories of these tours abound with one who got the ship its nickname “the ghost ship” owing to the crew that ducked the press so effectively during the Mediterranean honeymoon cruise of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In addition to her diplomatic duties on frequent royal tours and as a honeymoon retreat, The Royal Yacht Britannia was also used as a vessel for family vacations. During summers, it catered to the royal family’s western Isles tour cruising around Scotland with a stopover to play games and barbeques on the islands. The tour would also have a stop off at Castle of Mey to visit the Queen Mother and a port of call at Aberdeen for the Queen to visit her favorite summer home, The Balmoral Castle . Though no longer used as a private yacht for tours, it still has connections with the royal family. The oldest granddaughter of the Queen, Zara Phillips, hosted a reception a night before her wedding in 2011 on the ship. The guests included all her royal cousins though the Queen was not in attendance.

Having clocked 1.1 million miles on the seas, Royal Yacht Britannia was finally decommissioned on 11 th December 1997. The Queen was seen shedding a tear at the ceremony as so many memories were attached to it. Since the Queen officially took leave of it, the ship is docked in the port of Leith in Scotland. It now serves as a floating museum and venue for events for those who can afford it. All the clocks aboard the ship remain stopped at 3.01 hours which is the exact time the Queen disembarked the vessel for the last time. The Queen has never visited the yacht ever again till date.

Initially, there were plans to get a replacement yacht, but the government eventually declined to fund it, and thus it remains an unfulfilled plan.

The ship was designed with three masts – a 41 m foremast, a 42 m mainmast, and a 36 m mizzenmast. A portion of the top of the foremast and mainmast were hinged to be removed to allow safe passage under bridges. A floating palace, Royal Yacht Britannia was built to double up as a hospital in the event of a war and was a functional royal residence.

It had a capacity of 250 guests and carried one platoon of Royal Marines and 21 officers with 250 Royal yachtsmen while carrying the Queen or the royal guests. Five of the decks open for public viewing include the Queen’s sleeping chambers, the state drawing, and dining rooms and a honeymoon suite with a double bed. It also had a garage to carry the Queens Rolls Royce Phantom V during the royal journeys. The Royal Deck Tea Room was added in 2009.

Royal Yacht Britannia had a steering crew who could not see where they were going as unlike on most ships, where the steering wheel sits on the bridge on the topmost floor. The Britannia’s wheel room is one floor below blinding the crew. To navigate, the crew used voice pipes to convey navigational orders to circumvent this problem. Amazing but true.

To maintain silence and calm during the Royal presence onboard, the crew would use hand signals instead of shouting orders. It was also the last Naval ship where the crew slept in hammocks, a practice that was discontinued in1973.

What Can You Do on Board?

The five decks of The Royal Yacht Britannia are open for public viewing as the ship was converted to a museum. The following are the few attractions on the yacht.

The sun lounge was the Queen’s favorite room where she liked to have her tea at 8.30 AM whenever sailing on onboard. She would view the shipping chart at 11 AM here reviewing the sailing progress it made during the night as she got back here for coffee. She liked having her afternoon tea here at 5 PM. The wooden-floored and paneled Sunroom remained the Queen’s favorite room for relaxing and informal time spending.

The yacht was a functional royal residence for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburg. It was fully equipped with all conveniences to host world leaders who have stayed in the royal apartments in the royal vessel. You can see the grand staircase where the Queen would greet her guests, a state drawing-room along with a state dining room for 56-guests. The Queen would sit on the port side of the dining table and used a small bell to clear off a food course. You can also see the Queen’s bedroom and sitting room which is covered with a glass screen for protection.

As in all Royal navy ships, Britannia has a NAAFI (Navy, Army & Air Force Institute) shop where the crew could buy sweets, papers, magazines and special Britannia souvenirs along with daily need items like razors and toothpaste. You could visit it too on your own to Royal Yacht Britannia.

The Royal Deck Team Room was added in 2009 in The Royal Yacht Britannia where you can enjoy freshly made food with stunning views and are warmly welcomed here. Treat yourself with tea and onboard baked snacks on the very same spot where the royals would have played games and entertain during their royal tours.

The onboard award-winning gift shop is a good place to buy exclusive gifts for your loved ones. Buy beautiful Britannia souvenirs to immortalize your tour to a royal icon.

Information about Royal Yacht Britannia

After being at service of her Majesty, The Queen and the Royal Family for more than 40 years and sailing over 1.1 million miles, the majestic Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith in Scotland. The place is just 2 miles from the city center of Edinburgh. You can follow the lives of the royalty on this tour with this most special royal residence. You can be part of the historic icon which hosted the Kings & Queens of the world along with important world leaders who have been a guest here. This famous ship is one of the top 5 landmark attractions in the UK. You can visit The Royal Yacht Britannia at Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland - EH6 6JJ.

As you reach the Ocean Terminal, which is the entrance of the Royal Yacht Britannia museum, you will get a truly warm welcome. The terminal is the gateway and boarding point for the ship. It has a replica Lego model of Britannia. You can view the historical royal photographs in the gallery before you get on board the ship. You can get a complimentary audio headset which gives you an audio tour of the 5 main decks in 30 languages.

Same-day tickets for the tour can be bought onsite at the Ocean Terminal visitor center before 8 am. You can also pre-book your ticket online for added convenience. Look out for discounts or special offers that may be applicable from time to time. The ticket free costs £16.50 for adults, £14.50 for senior citizens (60 years), £14.50 for students with valid ID, £8.75 for children (5-17 years), free - children under 5 years. There is also a family package of £46 (2 adults and up to 3 children).

There is ample free car parking available at the Ocean Terminal for Britannia visitors. The level E of the blue car park will get you to the same level as the Britannia’s visitor center. There are reserved car parking slots for disabled and dedicated bays for parent and child parking on this level.

The museum opens for admission at 10 am and allows admission till 3.30 pm, 7 days a week from Jan- March, 9.30 am to 4.30 pm from April- Oct. and 10 am to 3.30 pm in Nov- Dec. It closes 2 hours post the last admission.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is closed for visits on 25 th Dec. and 1 st Jan. due to holidays.

How to Get There

Royal Yacht Britannia can be reached in just 15 minutes by car from the Edinburgh city center. The visitor center is located on the 2 nd floor in the Ocean Terminal. For satnav guided driving, punch the codes EH66JJ or use google maps to reach here. Follow road signs for Edinburgh and Leith/ North Edinburgh. You will see brown Britannia signs for the final approach.

There are local bus services from Edinburgh city center. Lookout for Lothian Bus services with bus number 11, 22 or 35 which have service to the Ocean center. The ticket can be purchased in the bus carrying exact change. You can also buy bus tickets online at form-tickets. Optionally you can consider Majestic Tour buses which depart from Waverley Bridge at Edinburgh city center. You will get a 10% discount showing your Majestic bus ticket on your Britannia admission ticket.

Royal Yacht Britannia is approx. A 45-minute drive from Edinburgh airport. The new Lothian Skylink 200 service directly connects the airport to the Ocean Terminal.

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