Royal Yacht Britannia #1

Edinburgh #11

The other treat I promised myself when I was in Edinburgh was a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia, now moored in Leith Docks. It was HM Queen Elizabeth II's private yacht, from its launch in 1953 just before her coronation to its retirement in 1997. 'It provided the perfect royal residence for glittering state visits, official receptions, royal honeymoons and relaxing family holidays. For Great Britain, it was a majestic symbol of the Commonwealth and a proud ambassador generating billions of pounds in trade deals. For the Royal Family and 220 dedicated crew of Royal Yachtsmen (Yotties), it was home.' It travelled more than a million nautical miles in its 44 years of service. It's now in the care of a trust and is a major visitor attraction. 

The only part that is not original is the glass structure on the top deck, which has been added as a restaurant and tea room for tour visitors. 

I hadn't realised that you can't really see the ship from the dockside. You'll have to be content with a photo of a photo (above top) and the little bit you can see from the accessible quayside. Visitors access the ship through a shopping mall (!) into a new visitor centre. It was, however, a most pleasurable experience right from the start. Staff are uniformed, very smart and very attentive, making you feel like royalty yourself! There's an audio guide for the tour but, since I couldn't hear that, they provided me a with a fat file with the entire transcription, so that I could stop at the various points and read all about it. It was truly wonderful. 

In the visitor centre there were many photos and displays of information. The original ship's wheel is there. In line with most naval vessels, for safety, the wheelhouse is below decks, and instructions were relayed from the bridge to the wheelhouse through the voice pipes. 

There's also the original ship's compass (below). The one now onboard is a replica.

Look how many people it took to crew the ship! Twenty Officers and 220 yachtsmen, hand-picked by the high ranking Commanding Officer, generally a Rear Admiral. Some yachtsmen were posted there for two years, while others served their whole careers on Britannia. The photos below show the ship's company on one of the early tours and at its retirement. 

When the Royal Family were on board there was always a band of the Royal Marines on duty. There would also be members of the Queen's Royal Household: chefs from Buckingham Palace, her Private Secretary, the Queen's Surgeon and her dressers and maids. 

'The crew's duties ranged from ensuring the slope of the royal gangway was never steeper than 12° to arranging the royal flowers; from daily diving to search the seabed beneath the Yacht to polishing the silverware. In temperatures of up to 120°F, they manned Britannia's 'state of the art' laundry, yet remained as pristine as the ship herself at all times. The junior Yachtsmen had the arduous task of scrubbing the two-inch thick teak decks each day to keep them in perfect condition. They were also called on to work at the many prestigious state banquets and dinners held on board.'

The Royal Barge was used to transport the Queen to and from the Royal Yacht Britannia, and played a ceremonial role in the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames. Also aboard, there was often a Land Rover and a Rolls Royce. The latter had to have its bumpers removed to fit it into the ship's garage!