Royal Yacht Britannia

Today started a drizzly, dreary day when we headed out to the waterfront to tour the Royal Yacht Britannia. The yacht was completed in 1953 and traveled more than 1 million nautical miles before being decommissioned in 1997.

It was a self-guided tour, using hand-held audio guides. We were one of the first ones on the yacht so it wasn’t very crowded at all.

Phillip’s room. This was adjacent to the Queen’s room.

Honeymoon suite; Charles had the full bed put in this room in preparation for his and Diana’s 14-day honeymoon cruise through the Mediterranean.

Queen’s Office. Note the stuffed corgi on the radio. We saw them all over the ship.

Famous photo of Diana on the yacht greeting the boys.

This is the exact spot that photo was taken but from a different direction. The bottom right in the photo is where the doorway is so that photo would have been taken from the left side looking towards the doorway.

Formal staircase leading the the first floor where the dining room and formal living room are located. The lift at the top of the stairs was put in for the Queen Mother once she was not able to get up and down the stairs anymore. It’s an old-fashioned with the handle to open the doors. She must have had someone open it for her because the door was very difficult to open.

The formal dining room could hold up to 52 people. This is where the Queen held formal dinners. Bill and Hilary Clinton participated in a State Dinner here.

It takes 3 hours to set the table for 52 guests. Everything on the table is placed with a ruler in a precise location. It was a gorgeous set up.

State Drawing Room. The Queen wanted a wood-burning fireplace at the end of the room but changed her mind when she found out that a sailor with a water bucket would be required to stand by the fireplace whenever a fire was lit. This fireplace is electric.

Baby grand piano in the living room. Diana used to play this as did Noel Coward.

Moving off the Royal Apartments to the crew quarters.

Either junior officers’ or Chief Petty Officers’ (CPO) quarters. There were 4 bunks to each room.

Officers’ Lounge. Note the wombat on the ceiling fan. The game they played was to put the wombat on the fan then turn the fan on so they could play catch with the wombat.

In order to get the Rolls into its onboard garage, they had to take the tires off.

The stairway from which the Royal Family and other dignitaries would board.

Here’s a video I found about the decommissioning in 1997. The Queen is clearly emotional. We talked with one of the stewards who told us that the Queen loved the yacht and had many happy memories of it.

A former open area of the ship has been redesigned as a tea room, so of course, we had to check it out.

Enjoying our sparkling rose wine and sweets. Peter had a Victoria Sponge and I had a slice of lemon drizzle cake. Everything was delicious.

The yacht has been used by the Royal family for special occasions like the pre-wedding party for Princess Anne’s daughter Zara and her husband Mike Tindall. It is also the only royal yacht in the world available private hire. Here’s what you get if you book the State Drawing Room: Exclusive use of the whole yacht; up to 100 for drinks receptions; white-gloved butler service; a red carpet entrance and piping aboard via the Royal Brow; drinks served in crystal glassware and entertainment by the official pianist on the original Welmar baby grand piano. How cool would it be to have a wedding here!

After browsing the gift shop, where Peter found his 3rd jigsaw puzzle, we headed back to the bus for an early trip home. There really wasn’t anything else we wanted to see and since we’re going to have a very late night tonight, we decided to have a relaxing afternoon.

Tonight I get to cross off the 2nd of the 3 things on my list of must do while in the UK…the Edinburgh Tattoo. Weather is a bit iffy so our fingers are crossed for no rain. We bought a tartan blanket the other day so we don’t mind cold weather but rain would be miserable. I’ll let you know.

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