royal yacht britannia state dining room

What life was really like on-board Royal Yacht Britannia

By Annabelle Spranklen

It was known as a royal palace on water, serving the British Royal Family for over 44 years, travelling over one million nautical miles and undergoing 968 state visits. It’s little wonder that the Queen showed an emotional farewell when the ship was decommissioned in 1997, as part of cost-cutting measures by Tony Blair’s Labour government.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia was described as the Queen as the place ‘where I can truly relax’. It was commissioned by the Queen’s father, King George VI in 1952, just two days before his death and so, it became the Queen’s duty to oversee the project, creating a ship that would not only become her family’s home while travelling, but also as an overseas emblem for the nation, hosting a number of key events onboard for the likes of Winston Churchill and Ronald Regan.

When it was launched on 16 April, 1953, the Queen announced that it was ‘a necessity’ for the head of the Commonwealth, adding ‘Between those countries the sea is no barrier, but the natural and indestructible highway.’

Today, the yacht is permanently docked in Edinburgh and serves as a tourist attraction, with every clock on board pointing to 3.01pm - recalling the moment the Queen stepped off its gangplank for the very last time.

Life onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia would vary depending on whether the ship was on an official state visit or royal holiday. When the Queen was aboard, she would maintain her normal busy schedule, spending most of her day in the sitting room with her private secretary attending to official documents, stopping for afternoon tea at 5pm, before taking work to bed with her most evenings.

For others though, life onboard was a little more fun. The Princess Royal admitted in recent TV interview that it took a team of nannies to stop her and her older brother Charles from falling overboard as they got very excited about being at sea.

Royal children onboard Britannia were also allocated a ‘Sea Daddy’, a member of crew to look after them and keep them busy. There were lots of games, water fights and fun in the inflatable paddling pool on the Verandah Deck, which was sometimes turned into a makeshift slide.

During the summer months, the Royal Family would go on a Western Isles tour, known as their annual family holiday cruising around Scotland. It was here that they’d have treasure hunts, picnics and barbecues ashore the secluded, remote islands.

There were chores to do too, as Anne commented, ‘We found as children that there was so much to do, we expended so much energy that we couldn't describe our time on the Yacht as a rest.' Jobs included cleaning life rafts and sometimes helping steer the yacht.

On later sailings, Diana, Princess of Wales would play the piano, while others would play cards, do jigsaws, watch films or read. Former members of crew have shared stories of Carry On -style sketches in the evening. One ex-sailor Albert ‘Dixie’ Deane recalled one experience, ‘You had all these guys; stokers, sailors and officers putting on little sketches. If you think of Sunday Night At The London Palladium , but downgrade it by around 100 times, you’ve got the general idea.’

He also described how the Queen Mother used to frequent the mess bar to drink her favourite gin and Dubonnet – then personally cook bacon and eggs for hungry crew members.

Over 412ft long, the ship had a 56-seat state dining room, a state drawing room, formal staircase and separate bedrooms and sittings rooms for the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as a sun lounge. It also boasted a garage for the Queen’s Rolls-Royce, a 24-hour laundry and even a knighting stool that was carried on all voyages. Britannia was crewed by 220 Royal Yachtsmen, 21 officers and captained by an admiral with a 26-strong Royal Marine band sometimes on board too.

The royal yacht didn’t just host state visits and family holidays, it was also the spot for four royal honeymoons - there was a honeymoon suite onboard (the only double bed on the entire ship). Princess Margaret was the first to honeymoon on Britannia in 1960, for her Caribbean trip with Anthony Armstrong-Jones, where the couple had dinner in full evening dress every night. The Princess Royal and Captain Mark Phillips followed in 1973 but were struck with terrible storms and 20ft waves that gave them a bad bout of seasickness.

The Prince of Wales and Diana, Princess of Wales were next, navigating the Med in 1981, managing to avoid the press. The final honeymoon aboard was in 1986, when the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York travelled around the Azores Islands near Portugal.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia : A History of Queen Elizabeth II’s Favorite Palace

By Lisa Liebman

The christening of The Royal Yacht Britannia serves as a cheeky season opener to  The Crown . Black-and-white Pathé News–style footage shows a soon-to-be-crowned Queen Elizabeth II (Claire Foy) cheered on by shipbuilders as she launches her new 412-foot yacht. “I hope that this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant. Capable of weathering any storm,” she says about the royal replacement for the  Victoria and Albert III . By the series’ season finale, set 44 years later, both the sovereign and the floating palace she christened  Britannia will have hit rough seas—the cost of repairing the creaky old vessel and the modern role of the monarchy both in question. Ultimately, the yacht that undertook 968 official voyages all over the world, hosting dignitaries—including 13 US presidents—at receptions and banquets, was dry-docked near Edinburgh, Scotland, where it continues to be a popular tourist attraction. Here are some of the most buoyant facts about the palace the Queen famously said was “the one place where I can truly relax.”

The sun room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1981. 

In a nod to the country’s post-war austerity, Elizabeth scaled back the design of the ship that her father, King George VI, had commissioned just two days before he died. Rather than following the opulent plan laid out by the Scottish firm McInnes Gardner & Partners, she opted for the understated elegance envisioned by architect Sir Hugh Casson, who described “running a lawn mower over the Louis XVIl adornments” in favor of simple white walls, lilac-gray carpeting, and “a bit of gilding in grand places.” Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Phillip, were said to have personally chosen the furniture—much of it, including linens, recycled from the  Victoria and Albert —fabrics (florals, chintz, toile), and paintings. 

Prince Charles and Princess Diana on board the Royal Yacht Britannia as they prepare to depart on their honeymoon cruise in 1981.

As a former Royal Navy Commander, Prince Phillip also saw to the ship’s technical details, and his Bluebottle racing yacht inspired the Britannia ’s navy-hued hull. Outer decks were made of two-inch Burmese teak. The steering wheel was reclaimed from Britannia ’s namesake, King Edward VII’s 1893 racing yacht; a wheelhouse wheel came from George V’s racing yacht; and a gold-and-white binnacle (housing the ship’s compass) was salvaged from King George III’s yacht and installed on the Veranda deck. Fittings from former royal ships were also reused. 

The drawing room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1978. 

The 4,000-ton yacht had a crew of 220 Royal Yachtsmen who lived on board, about 45 household staff, and occasionally a 26-member Royal Marine embarked to entertain dignitaries. The monarch often welcomed guests from the ship’s grand staircase. (Stairs leading from the Veranda to the Royal deck were sometimes transformed into a water slide for the kids.)  Britannia ’s apartments were designed like those of a first-class ocean liner. A 56-seat state dining room, where many of the gifts given to the monarch (a wood-carved shark from Pitcairn Island, a bejeweled gold statue from Bangkok) were displayed, was the scene of formal dinners with guests such as Sir Winston Churchill, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Mandela, and Bill and Hillary Clinton. More intimate gatherings were held in the Queen’s official reception room, a smaller state drawing room with floral upholstered pieces, simple wood tables, an electric fireplace, and a Welmar baby grand piano bolted to the deck—played by everyone from Sir Noël Coward to Princesses Diana and Margaret. The teak-clad sun lounge, with rattan furniture and a toile loveseat, was Elizabeth’s favorite place—where she had her breakfast, afternoon tea, and also enjoyed her favorite Dubonnet and gin cocktails.

The Queen’s sitting room on the Royal Yacht Britannia as photographed in 1981. 

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A ship elevator reserved for royal use moved between the Upper and Shelter Decks. The latter is where four Royal Apartments (bedrooms), including the Queen and Prince Phillip’s connecting compartments, were located. Hers featured florals, his had red accents. Elizabeth’s understated Upper Deck private sitting room, done in pastels and neutrals, served as the office where she conducted state business. Phillip used his sitting room, with its wood desk facing a model of his first command, the HMS Magpie , as his study. Below deck there was a wine cellar, as well as a cargo hold that could carry a barge, speed- and sailboats, plus a royal Range Rover and Rolls-Royce. The yacht could also be converted into a hospital (though it never was).

The Queen shed a tear at the decommissioning ceremony for thye Royal Yacht Britannia.

As depicted in  The Crown, Britannia ’s final official trip was to Hong Kong in 1997, where Prince Charles attended the handover of the territory to China. By then, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration was complaining that the £11 million a year needed to keep the boat afloat couldn’t be justified. With Queen Elizabeth, Prince Phillip, and all of their children in attendance,  Britannia was decommissioned at a ceremony in Portsmouth, England on December 11, 1997, with the monarch seen wiping away a tear. The yacht, now docked in Leith, Scotland, is open to the public as a museum and events space. (Prior to their wedding, Princess Anne and Mark Phillips’s daughter Zara Phillips and her fiancé Mike Tindall had a celebration there.) Visitors will note that every clock on board reads 3:01, the exact time the Queen disembarked her beloved  Britannia for the final time on that December day.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia: How The Queen created a floating home and theatre of state

• Queen Elizabeth II
• Royal family

The Queen was the best-travelled monarch in British history. John Goodall looks at the story of the Royal Yacht Britannia, now permanently moored in Leith, Edinburgh. Photographs by Paul Highnam.

‘I name this ship Britannia . I wish success to her and to all who sail in her.’

With these words, on April 16, 1953, The Queen released a bottle of ‘Empire wine’ — a post-war economy in place of Champagne — to launch the Royal Yacht Britannia . The name of the ship had been kept secret and, hearing it declared, the assembled crowd gave a huge roar of approval. To the sound of more cheers, and as a band played Rule Britannia , the 4,000-ton hull, No 691, slid slowly down the slipway from the Clydebank shipyard of John Brown & Co, into the river, and was towed by tugs to the fitting-out basin upstream.

From as early as 1939, bids had been invited to construct a new Royal Yacht capable of long-distance travel. War and austerity put paid to the initiative, but a visit by George VI to South Africa in 1947 on board the battleship HMS Vanguard revived it. As The Queen commented at Britannia ’s launch, George VI ‘felt most strongly, as I do, that a yacht was a necessity and not a luxury for the Head of our great British Commonwealth, between whose countries the sea is no barrier, but the natural and indestructible highway’.

Fig 1: The Sun Lounge. The wall-mounted telephone to the right is identical to those installed in Buckingham Palace. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

In October 1951, therefore, the Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee announced the government’s intention to build a yacht capable of conversion into a hospital ship in time of war. A General Election, however, almost immediately passed responsibility for realising the £2.1 million project to a Conservative government under Sir Winston Churchill and the King authorised the commission in writing on February 5, 1952, the day before he died. Britannia claims to be the 83rd Royal Yacht in succession to Mary , which was presented to Charles II by the people of Amsterdam at the Restoration in 1660. The first steam-powered Royal Yacht was launched in 1843.

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Both the Duke of Edinburgh — himself, of course, a naval officer with a technical interest in, and understanding of, ships — and The Queen were closely involved in the design and decoration of Britannia . As the Duke explained in an interview in 1995, she ‘was rather special as far as we were concerned because we were involved from the very beginning in organising the design and furnishing and equipping and hanging the pictures and everything else… All the other places we live in had been built by predecessors’. This close involvement makes the royal apartment within the yacht one of the most coherent surviving expressions of the royal couple’s personal interests and taste.

One outward mark of their involvement in Britannia is the deep blue of the hull ( Fig 2 ) , which is borrowed — together with its enlivening band of gold leaf — from the Dragon Class racing yacht Bluebottle , which was a wedding gift in 1948. The main interiors of the yacht, meanwhile, were created with the assistance of Sir Hugh Casson, who had recently been knighted for his work as director of architecture for the Festival of Britain.

Fig 3: The State Dining Room. Hung on the walls are gifts from around the world. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

By Casson’s account — recorded in a series of interviews in early 1990 for the National Life Stories of the British Library Oral History Project — the dockyard had initially turned to the established local firm of McInnes Gardner to furnish the yacht. The Duke of Edinburgh, however, judged its Louis XVII-style proposals as too much in the character of a transatlantic liner. He requested something simpler and asked the furniture designer Gordon Russell for advice. Russell suggested Casson on the strength of his Festival of Britain experience. By happy coincidence, Casson loved liners, having spent part of his childhood in Southampton.

Casson had never properly met his royal clients before this commission and time was of the essence. After a sequence of interviews with the Duke of Edinburgh, the Admiralty and a representative of McInnes Gardner, he quickly produced a series of large watercolour sketches of the main rooms that were posted off to the Royal Family at Balmoral. That done, and in company with John Wright, an architect and furniture designer in his office, he visited the previous Royal Yacht — Victoria and Albert III , built in 1899 and retired in 1937 — to salvage fittings. These included her picture collection, china, silver, linen and glass. Two ornate compasses or binnacles were also rescued, but these, in fact, originally came from a yet earlier vessel, Queen Victoria’s Royal George .

Fig 4: The State Drawing Room, with its regulation electric fire. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

Soon afterwards, Casson, Wright and a Mr McInnes Gardner of the eponymous Glasgow firm, were summoned to Balmoral, where they arrived one morning at breakfast time. There was an informal meeting soon afterwards, with The Queen sitting by the fire and Princess Anne combing her hair, at which his royal clients professed themselves delighted with the designs. They requested, however, that the watercolours be laid out for further discussion after the immediate business of the morning, a church service.

What discussion the drawings elicited is unclear, but Casson makes it apparent that the Duke of Edinburgh was otherwise a crucial point of connection in the design process and that the choice of fabrics was taken by the royal couple. The next day, Casson was dismissed with an instruction to get on with the work and send samples of materials. He was also given a brace of pheasant bearing a prominent label ‘From The Queen’, which he hung ostentatiously from the luggage rack of his train carriage as he travelled south.

Casson’s stated aim in Britannia was to create a country-house interior in the yacht, although the conscious simplicity perhaps more powerfully evokes the residence of a British colonial governor or High Commissioner. He proposed a single colour carpet throughout, white walls, polished mahogany doors and some gilding of highlights. His accomplished and loosely worked watercolour sketches have the effect of bringing the picture hang and the furniture to the fore, setting chintz patterns and pastel tones against the clean lines and bold details of the architecture. To a striking degree, and despite repair and renovation, the interiors of the yacht still resemble these views.

Fig 5: The grand staircase connecting the royal bedroom suites with the state rooms. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

Incorporated within the Upper Deck are the State Drawing Room — the fireplace within it had to be fitted with an electric fire because of naval regulations ( Fig 4 ) — and the State Dining Room ( Fig 3 ) . Between them is an anteroom and the main stair ( Fig 5 ) , as well as sitting rooms for the Duke and The Queen ( Fig 6 ) . The stairwell also incorporates the formal entrance to the yacht, making this the hallway of the royal apartment. On the Shelter Deck above are the private family rooms, including the Duke’s and The Queen’s bedrooms ( Fig 8 ) , each with its own bathroom. There is also the Sun Lounge ( Fig 1 ) , a room with large windows that opens onto the verandah deck towards the stern.

The royal apartment occupies about a third of the yacht and has its own connected cabins, services and galley. All the remainder was organised in the manner of a working Royal Navy vessel. To man the ship was a crew of up to 220 yachtsmen and 21 officers under the command of an admiral or commodore (rather than a captain). The crew was divided into several departments, including a Royal Marine band. There is a bridge, wheelhouse, accommodation, wardroom and messes, a sick-bay and storage. The diesel engines drove two geared steam turbines that gave her a top speed of 22½ knots and a range of about 2,196 miles at 20 knots.

Much about the life of Britannia was unusual. The uniform was distinctive, with such details as a silk bow at the back of the trousers. Gym shoes were worn on deck and, to avoid noise, there was no tannoy system or shouting. Instead telephones and hand signals were used to communicate. Because of its role as a floating palace and the need for impeccable clothes, the laundry was particularly important. In addition to the Royal Barge — the original from Victoria and Albert III was replaced in 1964 by one built by Camper Nicholson — the yacht also had a garage for either a Land Rover or The Queen’s Phantom V Rolls Royce.

Fig 6: The Queen’s Sitting Room, with its desk. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

In November 1953, as work to Britannia was still under way, The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh set off on their first and longest Commonwealth tour aboard the passenger liner Gothic . Their new yacht set out to meet them as they returned, carrying the young Prince of Wales and Princess Anne. The family party embarked from Tobruk on May 1, 1954 and returned to Britain, picking up Churchill (and Casson) in the Solent. Having reviewed the fleet, Britannia sailed into the Port of London to public welcome. A painting of the yacht passing beneath Tower Bridge on that occasion was later hung in pride of place over the drawing-room fireplace.

For the next 44 years, Britannia worked busily in the service of Britain and the Commonwealth and played a role in more than 700 royal visits. In the process, she served not only as a means of transport, but as a home and a theatre of state. One of her regular duties was an annual summer cruise taking the Royal Family from the Cowes Regatta off the Isle of Wight to the Western Isles of Scotland. She also acted as a honeymoon retreat for several royal couples. The Queen was seen to relax on board in a way that was impossible elsewhere.

Fig 7: The engine room, with its immaculate machinery. Britannia sailed her millionth mile in February 1994. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

In 1994, when on a Caribbean trip, Britannia passed her millionth nautical mile and there was a celebration in the engine room ( Fig 7 ) , where The Queen and the Duke cut a ribbon and a cake. By then, however, she was becoming a dated vessel and, in 1995, a decision was taken by the Conservative Government of John Major that Britannia should not sail beyond 1997. This opened up discussions on the creation of a ‘cost-effective elegant royal yacht’, a project rather awkwardly compressed into the acronym CELERY. The idea of a replacement for Britannia was eventually incorporated into the Conservative manifesto of 1997, but with the Opposition never having been consulted, the provision of a new yacht now became a heated political issue.

Following the Labour general election victory that year, therefore, the idea of replacing Britannia was scrapped. Tony Blair made a visit to the yacht soon afterwards and has been quoted as saying that he regretted the decision as soon as he stepped on board.

Fig 8: The Queen’s Bedroom, with its modest single bed. The embroidered silk panel over the bed was designed by Joan Nicholson. The Royal Yacht Britannia. ©Paul Highnam for Country Life

The fate of Britannia , however, was by now sealed. On June 30, 1997, she performed her final state role, in the handover of Hong Kong to China, carrying the governor out of the harbour. She returned to Britain to be decommissioned at Portsmouth on December 11, 1997. After a gathering of the Royal Family on board, The Queen was piped ashore for the last time at exactly 15:01. The time is still displayed on all the clocks onboard. In a rare display of emotion, she was seen to shed a tear for the ship that had been her creation and home for so long.

In the past, Royal Yachts had either been scuttled or broken up. In the case of Britannia , however, the Government invited bids from UK organisations to present her to the public as a tourist attraction. From the seven bids considered, that of Edinburgh was judged the most successful and, since July 5, 1998, the yacht has been berthed beside Ocean Terminal shopping centre at Leith under the care of the The Royal Yacht Britannia Trust. She has not only proved a popular tourist attraction, but continues to operate as a venue for private hire. On display at Britannia are three royal sailing vessels, The Queen’s ocean-racing yacht Bloodhound , Bluebottle and Coweslip . The trust also owns a former lighthouse supply vessel, Fingal , now converted into Scotland’s only luxury floating hotel.

The political battle over the question of whether Britain should have a Royal Yacht continues into this Platinum Jubilee year. Whatever the outcome, Britannia deserves to be better known as a remarkable surviving example of taste at the start of Britain’s second Elizabethan Age.

For further information and opening hours, visit www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk

This article was originally published in June 2022.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia: discover its history

Once home to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and her family, the Royal Yacht Britannia is now moored at Leith the port of Edinburgh.

©Mark Millar, Royal Yacht Britannia

The Role of the Royal Yacht Britannia in the British Royal Family

The yacht provided a sanctuary for the royal family offering them a respite from the demands of public life. It allowed them to escape the prying eyes of the media and enjoy moments of relaxation and privacy.

As they travelled the world it was, said the queen, the one place she could truly relax.

Today the world’s most famous yacht is an Edinburgh five-star visitor attraction and exclusive events venue.

the Royal Yacht Britannia history

Plans to build a new yacht to replace the ageing Victoria and Albert III had first been considered in 1938 during the reign of King George VI but in austere pre-war Britain, it didn’t seem appropriate.

However in 1951, with the king’s health failing, the government decided to push ahead with their plans for a new ship. Sadly King George died before the work was completed.

construction and design of the Royal Yacht Britannia

Like two of the other great ocean-going passenger liners, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth II, the royal yacht’s life began on the River Clyde. 

It was built in John Brown’s shipyard in Clydebank near Glasgow and launched on 16 April 1953.

Following sea trials, the ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy the following year.

It was the latest in a long line of royal yachts that stretched back to the seventeenth century when the Dutch gave the world’s first royal yacht Mary to Charles II as a gift.

Original designs of the ship had specified a dual role – a hospital ship to be used in times of conflict and a royal yacht. She was never used in the former capacity.

However, in 1986, during a voyage to Australia, without the Queen aboard, the ship diverted to Aden to help in the evacuation of those trapped on the beaches by an ongoing war in the region.

Over 1,000 terrified people were rescued and crammed into every available space.

Both the Queen and Prince Philip took a keen interest in the design of the vessel, working with Sir Hugh Casson on plans for the interior decorations.

The young couple selected fabrics, furniture and paintings, many of them taken from the Victoria and Albert III in an effort to keep costs under control.

The state apartments aft of the funnel were not extravagantly decorated.  Instead, they have a traditional ‘country house’ feel, particularly in the drawing room where chintz-covered armchairs and sofas sit on a plain silver-grey carpet overlaid by a magnificent Persian rug. 

A baby grand piano stood in the corner often providing after-dinner entertainment. Princesses Diana, Margaret and Alexandra were all known to enjoy playing. 

Famous guests aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia

Writer Brian Hoey reminds us of the night Sir Noel Coward came to dinner during a Caribbean cruise. 

“He literally sang for his supper, playing many of his own compositions into the wee small hours. Even on the royal yacht, there was no such thing as a free meal.” 

Frank Sinatra and Elizabeth Taylor also pulled up a chair in the State Dining Room.

Of course, they weren’t the only well-known people to visit the yacht.

Over the years Rajiv Gandhi, Sir Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton and Nelson Mandela were only a few of the others on a long list of the world’s most powerful people who enjoyed royal hospitality.

© Mark Millar, Royal Yacht Britannia

Supper’ in Britannia’s dining room could be a splendid occasion. In preparation for a state banquet, Royal Navy stewards would lay the burnished mahogany table with military precision. 

They would carefully place the floral decorations, candelabras and exquisite crystal wine glasses.

With a ruler in hand, they measured the precise position of each shining piece of silver cutlery. Menus were printed and seating plans were discussed before Britannia set sail. 

The Queen and Prince Philip had their own bedrooms and sitting rooms, decorated to reflect their personal taste. The Queen preferred chintz and floral while the Duke liked the more functional wood panelling. 

This elegant lady became a favourite with all generations of the royal family but particularly the Queen who always said it was the only place she could truly be at ease.

Honeymoons at Sea

Four royal couples opted for a honeymoon at sea, onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia.

They were Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.

Princess Diana

A young Princess Diana was happiest when proceedings were kept informal, she was a very special guest as far as the naval crew were concerned. 

On one memorable occasion, she was found in the Junior Ratings Mess leading the crew, or yachtsmen, as they were called, in a rendition of What , Shall We Do With The Drunken Sailor. 

One remark in particular sums up the feeling and affection the crew had for her.  “There are 275 men aboard and every one of them is in love with Princess Diana.”

It’s fitting that Prince William and Prince Harry, who often spent their summer holidays on trips to the Western Isles of Scotland loved the freedom and privacy the royal yacht allowed them.

Ambassador for Britain

Beyond its role as a private residence, it was an unofficial ambassador for Britain serving as a platform for diplomatic and official engagements.

Britannia undertook numerous state visits, carrying the royal family and government officials to countries around the world. The yacht became a powerful symbol of British soft power, projecting an image of elegance, grace, and stability to the international community.

On what became known as Sea Days, it would throw open the doors to the world of commerce.

That allowed businessmen to showcase the best of British craftsmanship and design and promote their companies and products to the world.

The yacht became a floating showroom for British excellence, helping to boost exports and attract foreign investment.

The Overseas Trade Board estimated that between 1991 and 1995 the exchequer benefited to the tune of £3 billion.

Decommissioning and the transformation into a visitor attraction

After over four decades of service, the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned in Portsmouth on 11 December 1997.

During that long service, the ship sailed over one million nautical miles stopping at 600 ports in 135 countries. 

Rather than being sold or scrapped, the decision was made to preserve the yacht as a visitor attraction, allowing the public to experience first-hand the grandeur and history of this wonderful vessel.

At the Paying-Off Ceremony, the queen clearly sad at the occasion, said: “Looking back over forty-four 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.” 

WHAT ARE THE HIGHLIGHTS OF A VISIT TO THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA?

• Enjoy freshly made food and a warm welcome at the Royal Deck Tearoom.
• Visit the gleaming Engine Room to inspect the John Brown built turbines which drove the ship over a million nautical miles in its many years of service.
• The Wheelhouse , not on the Bridge as you might expect, is on the deck below. Yachtsmen unable to see ahead followed instructions from the officers through voice pipes.
• Admire the lavish State Dining Room , decorated with gifts received on foreign visits.
• Visit the Officers’ Wardroom , sometimes compared to a gentleman’s club, where officers would relax after work. Traditionally the captain did not dine there unless invited.
• Crew’s Quarters: These are much more cramped than the royal and officers’ quarters. They give a glimpse into the living conditions of the working crew. You can also visit the sick bay and the laundry room.

Special events

The Britannia also hosts a series of special events throughout the year, including music evenings and cocktail nights. It is also available for private hire, with the State Dining Room being a popular venue for dinners and receptions.

VISITOR INFORMATION

If you’re visiting during the busiest periods and just turn up, the queues can be long, so be prepared for a wait.

However, many of the available tour options will let you avoid queuing and you can book online on the official Britannia website.

But if you prefer to explore yourself, there are free audio guides in 30 languages to help you find your way around. A range of concession prices is also available.

Can you stay overnight on the Royal Yacht Britannia?

While you cannot stay overnight, you can at the nearby Fingal, a floating hotel moored nearby.

This unique hotel is also owned by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust and is one of E dinburgh’s luxury hotels.

• Also nearby is the newest Edinburgh whisky distillery –the Port of Leith Distillery – due to open in the summer of 2023. (The distillery opened in October 2023).

For further information on admission times and help planning your visit, go to the Britannia website.

10 surprising facts about the Royal Yacht Britannia, one of the Queen's favorite homes, featured on 'The Crown'

• The Royal Yacht Britannia was the royal family's private yacht from 1953 to 1997.
• The Queen once said that "Britannia is the one place where I can truly relax."
• The ship has made several appearances in Netflix's "The Crown," including season five.

The Royal Yacht Britannia served as the royal family's private yacht from 1953 to 1997. The Queen shed a rare public tear when it was decommissioned.

The first episode of season five of Netflix's "The Crown" flashes back to 1954, when Queen Elizabeth christened the Royal Yacht Britannia, and shows the royal family spending time aboard the luxurious ship.

Later on in the episode, when asked if Balmoral is her favorite home, Imelda Staunton's Queen Elizabeth replies, "There is another that's even more special to me," alluding to the Royal Yacht being her favorite.

Despite the Queen's fondness for the Britannia, the Labour government decided to decommission it in 1997 due to its high operation cost of £11 million each year, Reuters reported . That's equivalent to about $23 million today.

At the decommissioning ceremony, the Queen shed a rare public tear .

Shouting was forbidden on the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Officers wore gym shoes to stay silent near areas where the royal family ate and slept, according to the yacht's official website .

Children were assigned an officer known as a "sea daddy" to look over them while onboard.

"Sea daddies" kept royal children entertained with activities like treasure hunts and water fights.

There was a room aboard the ship called the "Jelly Room" that existed for the sole purpose of storing royal children's jellies, a gelatin dessert that Americans might call "Jell-O."

In addition to the chilled "Jelly Room," the yacht had a total of three galley kitchens where chefs from Buckingham Palace prepared meals.

The State Dining Room tables, which could seat 56 people, took three hours to set.

The location of each utensil was measured meticulously with a ruler, according to the book " Royal Transport: An Inside Look at the History of Royal Travel " by Peter Pigott.

All of the clocks onboard the Royal Yacht Britannia are stopped at 3:01 pm.

The clocks are frozen at the time the Queen stepped off the ship for the last time during its decommissioning ceremony in December 1997.

The ship had a full-time staff of more than 240 yachtsmen, known as "yotties."

The Royal Yacht Britannia cost an estimated $15 million to operate each year, Reuters reported .

The "yotties" had a daily ration of rum until the 1970s.

Yotties carried out a range of duties , including scrubbing the decks, polishing silverware, arranging flowers, and diving beneath the ship to search the seabed.

The former royal yachtsmen reunite annually to help maintain the ship.

Founded in 1989, the Association of Royal Yachtsmen organizes reunions and an annual dinner and dance.

With its many royal family vacations and official tours, the yacht logged over one million miles, the equivalent of one trip around the world for each of its 44 years at sea.

The ship docked at over 600 ports in 135 countries .

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Royal Yacht Britannia

The Queen and the Royal Family’s vessel for over 44 years , the Royal Yacht Britannia has become one of the most famous yachts in the world.

A long life

Britannia was launched in Scotland in 1953 and, since then, has served the Royal Family on 968 official voyages , travelling over one million miles, stopping at 600 ports and in over 135 countries .

The Queen felt at home when she travelled on the vessel and the photos of her children and grandchildren still hang on the walls of the Britannia , as well as various personal items and gifts that were given to the family on their travels around the world.

Throughout its 44 years of service, Britannia has been a residence for official receptions, banquets, and State visits . For these events, 45 members of the royal household would climb on board with 5 tons of luggage.

In 1997, after over 40 years of service, the vessel was decommissioned and is now berthed at Leith Port where curious visitors can explore the majestic Britannia.

The visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia begins in the Visitor Centre found on the second floor of the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre . In this centre, you’ll be able to discover the vessel’s past through numerous photographs.

Before visiting the Royal Yacht, you'll be given an English audio guide with all the details of the vessel.

Beginning with a visit to Britannia’s Bridge , visitors will also explore the State Apartments , the Crew’s Quarters, and finish at the Engine Room .

Although the Queen’s chambers are very plainly decorated, other parts of the vessel are extremely lavish, like the Rolls Royce that sits permanently in the vessel’s garage.   

A ship like no other

Even if you're not passionate about boats, wandering through the Royal Yacht Britannia’s rooms will satisfy any inquiries about the Queen and the Royal Family you might have . Information such as who slept in what room, how many people worked on board, what visitors were invited to visit the Britannia and the countries it has visited, make for an entertaining tour.

Ocean Terminal.

From January to March: Open daily: 10 am – 5 pm From April to October: Open daily: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm November and December: Open daily: 10 am – 5 pm

Adults: £ 18 ( US$ 23) Students: £ 16 ( US$ 20.40) Children (aged 5 – 17): £ 9 ( US$ 11.50) Children under 5: free entry

Buses: Ocean Terminal , 11, 22 or 35.

Nearby places

Royal Botanic Garden (2.7 km) Calton Hill (3 km) Scottish National Portrait Gallery (3.1 km) Palace of Holyroodhouse (3.2 km) Scottish Parliament (3.3 km)

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Royal Yacht Britannia – tickets, prices, discounts, afternoon tea, what to see

Royal Yacht Britannia used to be Queen Elizabeth’s Palace on Water and is now Scotland’s most popular tourist attraction. 

Known by many names such as Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia, Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht ,  HMY Britannia, etc., this Yacht was in the Queen’s service for 44 years and sailed more than a million miles worldwide. 

It is a perfect opportunity to see how the British Queen lived when traveling with other Kings and Queens, World leaders, and celebrities. 

This article shares everything you must know before booking your tickets for the Royal Yacht Britannia tour.

Top Royal Yacht Britannia Tickets

# Royal Yacht Britannia tickets # Royal Edinburgh ticket

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What to expect at yacht britannia, royal yacht britannia prices, royal edinburgh ticket, where is the royal yacht britannia, royal yacht britannia entrance, royal yacht britannia opening times, are the britannia tours timed, are the royal britannia tours guided, how long does a tour of britannia yacht take, royal britannia discounts, royal yacht britannia audio guide, royal deck tea room timings, 1. the state drawing room, 2. the verandah deck, 3. the sun lounge, 4. the state dining room, the engine room, the laundry, admiral’s cabin.

Here is a quick video on what visitors can expect inside Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia.

Your Royal Britannia tour starts from the Visitor Centre, on the second floor of Ocean Terminal, where you get the historical background about the Royal Family and Yachtsmen.

You then pick up the audio guide, which is part of the entry ticket, and board Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht and explore five fascinating decks.

Highlights on the Yacht’s Royal side are the Sun Lounge, the State Dining Room, and The Queen’s Bedroom.

On the ship’s operational side, you get to see the Crew’s Quarters, the Engine Room, the laundry, etc.

More than 95% of the exhibits you will see during your tour are original and are taken on loan from The Royal Collection.

If you prefer, you can also visit the Royal Deck Tea Room.

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Royal Yacht Britannia tickets

This entry ticket gets you complete access to the Royal ship that’s now berthed in Edinburgh’s historic Port of Leith.

Visitors can explore all five decks at a leisurely pace even as they take in the public and private lives of the British Royal Family.

This ticket also includes the complimentary audio guide. 

Adult ticket (18+ years): 18.50 pounds Child ticket (5 to 17 years): 9.25 Pounds  Family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 children): 50 Pounds Infant ticket (under 5 years): Free entry

This combo is known as the 48-hour Royal Edinburgh Ticket and is a real money saver. 

If you are visiting Edinburgh for the first time, we highly recommend this Royal attractions combo. 

This ticket gets you to access three of the best attractions in the city:

• Royal Yacht Britannia
• Edinburgh Castle
• Palace of Holyroodhouse

And to top it all, you also get unlimited travel for 48 hours on three of Edinburgh’s hop-on-hop-off bus tours. 

Address:  Ocean Terminal, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ, United Kingdom. Get Directions

The Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed in Leith, Edinburgh, just 2 miles from the City Centre.

Britannia’s Visitor Centre is on the second floor of Ocean Terminal, just 15 minutes’ drive from Edinburgh City Centre.

Ocean Terminal is soon going to be  re-branded  as Porta. 

There are many ways to get to the Royal Yacht. 

If you are coming by train, you must get down at  Edinburgh Waverley .

From outside the station, you can take a taxi to cover the 3.7 kms (2.3 miles) to Ocean Terminal. 

From the Waverly station, you can also take bus No. 22 and 34.

You must board the buses at  Princess Street (Stop PN) , and after 24 minutes and 27 stops, get down at  Ocean Terminal (Stop OF) .

There is a bus from the Station, every 15 minutes.

Lothian Bus services  run three buses – Bus No. 11, 22, and 35 – from Edinburgh City Centre to Ocean Terminal. 

You can purchase tickets on the bus by presenting the correct change or from the  Lothian Buses app .

A single journey on a Lothian Bus costs 1.70 Pounds. 

If you use Satnav, use the postcode EH6 6JJ. 

Else, open Google Maps to get  directions to Ocean Terminal .

If you prefer a taxi, we recommend  Uber ,  Central Taxis , or  City Cabs .

Car Parking

Royal Yacht Britannia offers free parking at Ocean Terminal.

Blue Car Park on Level E is closest to the tourist attraction’s Visitor Centre. 

This part of the Park also has spaces for Blue Badge holders. 

If you reach by foot, taxi, or bus, access to Royal Britannia is from the Ocean Terminal Shopping Center’s main entrance on the ground floor. 

You must take a lift to the 2nd floor of Ocean Terminal and walk towards the building’s East end.

You will first spot Debenhams and then HMY Britannia’s Visitor Center entrance.  Even though you can book tickets at the venue (the ticket desk is to the left of the visitor center entrance), it is better to  buy them online , much in advance, to avoid last-minute disappointment. 

During the peak months of April to October, Royal Yacht Britannia opens at 9.30 am, and the last entry is at 4.30 pm. 

The rest of the year, the Royal Yacht opens at 10 am, and the last entry is allowed till 3.30 pm. 

The last admission on 24 December is at 2.30 pm, and on 31 December it is at 3 pm. 

Royal Yacht Britannia is closed on 25 December and 1 January.

Royal Yacht Britannia tour

The Royal Yacht Britannia   tours are a perfect way to feel like a celebrity for a few hours. 

In this section, we share a few things you must know before you book your tour of the Royal ship. 

No, tours of HMY Britannia don’t start at a stipulated time. 

When you book your tickets, you only select the ‘date.’ 

On the day of your visit, reach the Royal ship between their opening hours to start exploring.

Her Majesty’s Yacht doesn’t offer guided tours. 

However, every ticket comes with an audio guide to walk around and tour the ship yourself.

Kids get their own version of the audio guide. 

You need at least two hours to explore Royal Yacht Britannia to satisfaction. 

However, if you plan to visit the Royal Deck Tea Room, you must factor in another 30 to 60 minutes. 

Visits during July and August tend to take longer because of the crowd. 

Kids up to four years get the maximum discounts at Britannia, Edinburgh – they get in for free. 

On the adult ticket price of 17 Pounds, children aged 5 to 17 years get almost 50% discount and pay only 8.75 Pounds.

Seniors who are 60+ and students with valid educational ID cards get a 2 Pound reduction on the full ticket.

People in the Armed Forces (with valid ID) can also claim the reduced price of 8.75 Pounds. 

However, this Armed Forces discount is available only at the Britannia ticket office.

Every Britannia Yacht entry ticket comes with a complimentary audio guide.

While receiving the audio guides at the Handset Desk, you can ask for straps to wear the audio guides around the neck. Headphones are also available.

Kids can opt for the children’s version of the audio guide.

The audio tour is available in 30 languages; English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Russian, Czech, Polish, Hungarian, Korean, Japanese, Urdu, Mandarin, Hindi, Arabic, Thai, Turkish, Cantonese, Punjabi, Portuguese-Brazilian, Welsh, Romanian and Gaelic. 

Besides the audio guide, visitor guides are also available through the tour route to help if you have questions.

Royal Yacht Britannia afternoon tea

The Royal Deck Tea Room is on board Britannia and tables are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

It is a perfect restaurant to enjoy freshly prepared food and stunning views of the harbor. 

The menu includes specialty coffees, cocktails, tasty soups, sandwiches, cakes, scones, etc.  Download Menu

The Royal Deck Tea Room has 35 tables and can seat 133 people.

During the peak months of April to October, the Royal Deck Team Room opens at 11 am, and the last admission is at 3.30 pm. 

January to March: Opens at 11 am, last admission at 3.30 pm

November to December: Opens at 10.30 pm, last admission at 3.45 pm

Royal Yacht Britannia interiors

Many tourists wonder what’s inside the Royal Yacht before they book their tickets. 

Some out of curiosity and some to know if a visit to Royal Yacht Britannia is worth it. 

We list below some of the highlights of this Palace on water. 

State Apartments

The State Apartments are the collection of rooms where the Royals lived or entertained their guests. 

The Royal family relaxed in the State Drawing Room whenever they traveled together. 

It also acted as a reception room for up to 250 guests. 

The Verandah Deck was a private space for the Royals, where they could sunbathe or enjoy quoits or deck hockey. 

This area of the ship also had a collapsible swimming pool for the Royal Family to splash around if they wanted.

The Sun Lounge was one of the Queen’s favorite rooms onboard HMY Brittania. 

The beautiful teak-lined room was a designated family room and offered a lot of privacy from the rest of the ship.

This massive dining room onboard Britannia has played host to the world’s most influential people, such as Nelson Mandela, Sir Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, etc. 

With its white paneled walls adorned with gifts received during State visits, this room represents ultimate luxury. 

The Engine Room is a testament to British marine engineering skills because, until the ship got decommissioned in 1997, everything was working fine. 

This room is full of gleaming brass, chrome, and white enamel with the ‘heavy stuff’ under the hood pumping 12,000 horsepower, which would help Britannia and her four-bladed propellers to a maximum of 22.5 knots.  

Eight men operated the Engine Room, Boiler Room, and associated machinery rooms.

The 240 Officers and Yachtsmen on board Her Majesty’s Yacht Britannia sometimes had to change their uniforms up to six times a day. 

This is why it was the only ship in the Royal Navy to have a laundry service permanently on board. 

The laundry machines, dryers, and steam presses on the ship worked non-stop, and sometimes the temperature even went up to 48 degrees Celcius (118 degrees Fahrenheit)

The Admiral was responsible for Royal Yacht Britannia’s safe functioning and commanded the 19 officers and 220 Yachtsmen who operated the ship.

He worked, entertained, and often ate (he couldn’t join the other officers in their mess unless invited) in the Admiral’s Cabin. Image: Royalyachtbritannia.co.uk  

The Bridge was HMY Britannia’s center of command and control on all her journeys. 

From here, the officers reporting into the Admiral navigated, passed orders, recorded the logbooks, etc.

Back then, all Royal Navy ships had a Navy, Army, and Air Force Institute shop, known as the NAAFI. 

The crew members and the officers would shop for their daily needs, such as toothpaste, shaving creams, magazines, etc. in this shop. 

Sources # Royalyachtbritannia.co.uk # Architecturaldigest.com # Wikipedia.org # Tripadvisor.com The travel specialists at TheBetterVacation.com use only high-quality sources while researching & writing their articles. We make every attempt to keep our content current, reliable and trustworthy .

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Urvashi Goyal

She is a city fanatic who loves exploring different cities, understanding their culture, meeting people, and discovering hidden gems. She likes to holiday in offbeat places that mainstream tourists are yet to discover. When on holiday, she avoids crowded tourist traps. Favourite cities: Bern, Los Angeles, and San Francisco

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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.

Seventy years ago, the Britannia began its journey as the royal yacht for Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family of the United Kingdom. Over the next 44 years she’d travel more than a million nautical miles and, in all her glamour and old world elegance, served as a residence that welcomed state visits from all over the world and family holidays alike. Then and now, she was and is a majestic symbol of the British Commonwealth and the reign of Queen Elizabeth II .

“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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Royal Yacht Britannia

Queen Elizabeth once said that the Royal Yacht Britannia was the only place she could truly relax, and we’re inclined to agree. After 968 official voyages worldwide, which counted for over 1 million nautical miles to 135 countries, the Royal Yacht Britannia is now a tourist attraction just two miles from Edinburgh’s city centre. The Royal Yacht Britannia has been visited by several world-famous people, including Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill, and potentially you too!

The floating palace of the British royal family is a sublime tourist attraction nestled near the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre in Leith. With plenty of attractions to see within this royal household on the water, we’ll be breaking essential details to know and the top things to do on your visit. Sit tight and enjoy!

In This Post

Important Details to Know

Before you board Britannia and explore the royal halls, remember these important details to make your trip successful. Firstly, the Royal Yacht Britannia allows guide dogs on the premises, with special considerations for hearing and recognised assistance dogs.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is also a Class 1 Wheelchair Access, allowing for highly accessible wheelchair service without assistance.

How to Get There

You may be asking yourself, “Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia?”. Luckily, the Royal Yacht Britannia is located 20 minutes away from Edinburgh’s city centre , in the picturesque region of Leith. The Visitor Centre can be found on the second floor of the Ocean Terminal Centre and can be reached using a variety of transport methods.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is only a 20-minute drive from the city centre and a 40-minute drive if you’re arriving from Edinburgh Airport. From the city centre, follow the signs north towards Leith and then the signs for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

There is parking available within the Ocean Terminal Visitor Centre, with Level E the closest place to park. Free car parking and disability-access parking are available.

The Train Station near Royal Yacht Britannia is the Edinburgh Waverly Station. Further passage via car, tram, bike, or bus from the station is necessary to reach the attraction and visitor centre. You can also arrive in style on the Edinburgh Orient Express.

Edinburgh’s Lothian Bus Services can conveniently reach the Royal Yacht Britannia via the 10, 16, 34, and 35 lines. Ticket prices for the service vary, but generally, a single ticket costs £2, and a day ticket costs £5.

Opening Times

Opening times for the Royal Yacht Britannia vary throughout the year, but the attraction is generally open from 10:00 to 17:00, with longer hours during the summer months (April through September). Last admissions are two hours before closing time, so ensure you do not arrive afterwards to avoid disappointment.

Ticket Prices

Royal Yacht Britannia tickets for adults cost £19.50 per person, Child (5-17) tickets cost £9.25 per person, and Family Tickets cost £50.00 (2 Adults, up to 3 Children). Children under 5 enter for free.

It’s recommended that tickets be pre-booked online. Expect your tour through this visitor attraction to take about an hour and a half.

Attractions

Now that all the logistics and tickets are sorted, you can look forward to seeing why the Royal Yacht Britannia was voted the Best UK Attraction by Tripadvisor Travellers Choice in 2023. The Britannia Royal Yacht has 40 years of incredible history and unique insight to offer its visitors, with many of its features maintained precisely the same as when the royal family used it.

Here are the top attractions you should take the time to see when you visit Royal Yacht Britannia

Stop by the Visitor Centre First

Before setting foot on the mighty vessel, stop by the Royal Yacht Britannia Visitor Centre first! It’s located at the Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, and has all the necessary information you’d need before hopping aboard the Britannia.

If you have any questions about the attraction, queries about your ticket, or want to know where the gift shop is, then this is the place to ask.

Tour Britannia’s Five Decks

The Royal Family were sailing in opulence aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, and visitors can explore the five decks of the Royal Yacht Britannia interior and exterior to their heart’s content. There are countless things to see, but here are a few that you should not miss during your visit while aboard this racing yacht:

Explore the Sun Lounge

Welcome to Queen Elizabeth’s favourite room aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, the Sun Lounge. The late Queen would often enjoy her breakfast and afternoon meals within the Sun Lounge because of its relative solitude and stunning views it grants. Admire the polished wood and blue hues as you relive the sights and sounds that made this location the Queen Mother’s favourite.

Fans of the show “The Crown” will likely remember this iconic room from the series, although no actual filming took place within the Sun Lounge.

Engine Room

One of the highlights of the Royal Yacht Britannia is undoubtedly the gleaming Engine Room, which has remained almost unchanged since its construction in 1953. For a nearly 75-year-old relic, you wouldn’t be faulted for believing that it’s brand new! The polished chrome, white enamel, and black steam turbines offer a unique industrial flair that can’t be seen anywhere else in the world.

You can imagine the hustle and bustle of the room, filled with hot steam and engineers making the mighty vessel cut through the seven seas to their next port. The Engine Room is an immersive and well-maintained part of the Britannia that you can’t miss while aboard.

Royal Deck Tearoom

Once you’ve explored the interior of Royal Yacht Britannia and have worked up an appetite, there’s no better place to sate it than the Royal Deck Tearoom. You can enjoy freshly baked cakes and scones alongside a selection of sandwiches and soups, all with a view out to Leith Harbour from the “Rolls Royce of Ships”.

The Royal Deck Tearoom also has a selection of exquisite teas for you to enjoy, including the Champagne Cream Tea! There’s something surreal about sipping tea where the Royal Family once played cards, an experience you can only enjoy from the Royal Deck Tearoom aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh .

The Royal Deck Tearoom has limited capacity and is unable to take reservations or bookings, so guests should expect a first-come, first-served system. The Tearoom has wheelchair accessibility and is only available for those with an admissions ticket to the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Take an Audio Tour

You can learn about the fascinating history of the Royal Yacht Britannia through the attraction’s audio tour! Children especially will love the audio tour’s child-curated guide, which offers the chance to unleash their inner Captain and search the five decks of the Britannia for the Cuddly Corgis hidden away within.

For the adults, the audio tour will cover the Britannia’s history from its maiden voyage to the decommissioning ceremony that led it to be the attraction it is today. If you want additional insight and fun facts while exploring the ship, then the audio guide will be your best friend.

See the State Apartments

The State Apartments are another grand highlight of the tour within the Royal Yacht Britannia, featuring some of the world’s most iconic dining rooms, bedrooms, and staterooms. The list of important locations within the State Apartments should be shorter, but we’ve tried to cover the top sights to watch out for.

Firstly, the State Drawing Room. This atmospheric room has a lively energy, even when empty, and was host to the likes of Princess Margaret, Princess Diana, and Sir Noel Coward — who all loved playing the immaculate keys of the Welmar Baby Grand Piano that sits within the room.

The grandest room aboard the Britannia is the State Dining Room, whose guest list would make anyone’s jaw drop! The dining room has seen Churchill, Mandela, Clinton, and even Reagan. There are several easter eggs throughout the dining room, such as the giant whalebone that Prince Philip found on Deception Island or a wooden shark signed by the adults of Pitcairn Island.

In all their former glory, the State Apartments are the Royal’s bedrooms, including the Queen’s bedroom. While it may be tempting to jump into the bed and see what thread the Royal Family sleeps on, we ask you refrain from doing so, or the Royal Yachtsmen will be very upset with you.

Shop at the Royal Yacht Britannia Gift Shop

There’s nothing quite like some retail therapy to make you feel like a Royal after exploring the Britannia. Luckily, the gift shop aboard this royal vessel has terrific souvenirs to take home with you. There’s a little something for everyone, from miniature replicas of the Britannia to Royal paraphernalia and even Royal Navy equipment.

Enjoy Britannia’s Events

Throughout the year, the Royal Yacht Britannia comes alive with corporate and public events. You can purchase tickets during many of Scotland’s most famous holidays if you want to celebrate in an unparalleled setting. Live it up aboard Britannia during Hogmanay, Burns Supper, or Christmas — complete with live music, delicious food, and an unmatched atmosphere.

The Royal Yacht Britannia is also available for exclusive use, including private tours and events. This Royal ship is a magnificent setting for a reception or company year-end bash, so why not create a memorable place for your most important moments?

Interesting Facts About The Royal Yacht Britannia

What do you do to impress your friends and family with some interesting facts about the Royal Yacht Britannia during your visit? Remember these interesting facts and show off your Royal knowledge:

• The marvelous gold and white binnacle situated on the Britannia’s veranda is actually originally part of the HMY Royal George (which was named after King George VI) — Queen Victoria’s royal yacht!
• Below the silver-grey carpet within the State Dining Room is a lavish wooden dance floor, last used for Princess Anne’s lively 21st birthday celebration.
• King Charles (then Prince Charles) and Princess Diana spent their honeymoon cruise aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia in 1981.
• Prince Philip kept a model replica of the HMS Magpie in his office aboard the Britannia, the first royal navy ship he commanded.
• The beautiful and stately steering wheel at the ship’s helm was originally taken from the racing yacht HMY Britannia, which was built for King Edward VII in 1893. It’s one of the oldest parts of the ship!

Now that you’re well equipped with facts to tackle the Royal Yacht Britannia, why not book your trip to Scotland’s most beloved tourist attraction and enjoy its magnificence in person?

More Scottish Museums to Visit

• Black Watch Museum
• Camera Obscura & World of Illusions
• Edinburgh Writers Museum
• Glasgow Science Centre
• Highland Folk Museum
• Museum of Childhood
• Museum of Edinburgh
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• Museum on the Mound
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• National Museum of Flight
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• People’s Palace
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• Scottish Crannog Centre
• Scottish Maritime Museum
• Shetland Museum & Archives
• St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art
• Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life
• Surgeons’ Hall Museum
• V&A Dundee

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Tag Archives: Britannia State Dining Room

Travel – the royal yacht britannia.

The Royal Yacht Britannia was used by Queen Elizabeth II and the Royal Family for over 44 years.  Once deemed an official Royal residence it has been used for state visits and official receptions, in addition it has been used for Royal family holidays and for the honeymoons of several Royal couples.  In this post I will discuss the history of Britannia from the time of the ship’s launch in 1953 to decommission in 1997.  The Britannia is now a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland and in this post I will give a brief tour of the ship.

The history of the Royal Yacht Britannia

The Britannia marked the end of the long tradition of British Royal Yachts used by the monarch dating back to King Charles II in 1660, to date there have been 83 Royal Yachts.   The most recent history of the Royal Yacht, prior to Britannia , goes back to the reign of Queen Victoria when the Victoria & Albert III (the first royal ship not powered by sail) launched in 1899, sadly the ship was completed in 1901 seven month after the Queen’s death.  The ship served four monarchs: King Edward VII, King George V briefly King Edward VIII and King George VI until it was decommissioned in 1939, the ship continue in service during World War II and was finally scraped in 1954.

By the 1950s, the Victoria & Albert III had become outdated and King George VI had made the request to Parliament for a more modern ship that could be used for Royal Tours, it would also serve as a type of floating royal residence.  The order was sent to the John Brown & Co. shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland but only the ship’s keel had been laid when the King died and his daughter became Queen Elizabeth II.

Work continued and when the hull was completed it was launched on April 16, 1953 and the young Queen christened the new ship Britannia .  Afterwards, the funnel and masts were installed and her sea trials were started in November 1953 and upon their completion the ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy in January 1954, it was the only ship in the world whose Captain was traditionally an Admiral.  Meanwhile the work on the interior continued and it would be the only new royal residence that the Queen would have final approval on the design and selection of furnishings aided by the British architect and interior designer.

Throughout the 44 years that Britannia was in service it has been used for many State Tours visiting 600 ports in 135 countries logging over one million nautical miles (shown below is a photo of the Britannia in Sydney Harbor, Australia).  Since it was also a royal residence, the Queen has entertained numerous world leaders, such as Winston Churchill, Rajiv Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Ronald Reagan.

The Britannia has also been used by the Queen and the Royal Family during private times.  In the past the ship has sailed on the Queen’s annual Scotland tour of the Western Isles accompanied by members of the Royal Family with a stop over to visit the Queen Mother at Castle Mey.  (Shown below are two photos of the Queen and the Royal Family, the left shows a rare photo of the Queen wearing pants was taken in 1985 and on the right in 1997)

The ship has also been used for the honeymoons by four Royal Couples; Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones in 1960, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips in 1973, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 (as shown in the photo below) and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986.

On June 23, 1994 Prime Minister John Major’s announced the decommissioning of the HMY Britannia due to the increasing cost of repairs, there would be no future replacement planned.  Finally, on October 20, 1997 the Britannia embarked on one last voyage around England, as the ship sailed passed the John Brown’s Shipyard it gave a blast as a tribute to the place where she was built.  Britannia  was formally decommissioned in a ceremony on December 11 1997 which was attended by the Queen and members of the Royal Family.  Perhaps remembering the important part that the Britannia played in both her public and most importantly her private life, the Queen did something very unusual and she was seen shedding a tear during the ceremony as the “Highland Cathedral” was played by the HM Royal Marine Band.

A brief tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia

Today the Royal Yacht Britannia is currently berthed in Edinburgh, Scotland and visitors can tour the ship.  For more visitor information regarding hours of operation and admission prices, please click on the link to the Britannia website at www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk

The Britannia Visitor Center is located in the Ocean Terminal, about two miles from Edinburgh.  Visitors will able to learn about the history of the Royal Yacht through several interesting displays, be sure to look for the 11 foot replica model of the Britannia made entirely of Legos!  At the Center, visitors will pick up complimentary audio handsets to use for self-guided tours of the ship’s five decks.   Special Note: All the clocks on  Britannia were stopped at 15:01, the time the Queen was “piped ashore” for the last time in 1997.

Listed below are several highlights of a tour of the Britannia’s staterooms, crew’s quarters and the engine room:

• The State Drawing Room – The State Drawing Room is the main reception area of the Britannia and was often used by the Royal Family as well as entertaining dignitaries on State Tours .   Please not the baby grand piano that was used by Princess Margaret, Princess Diana and even famous Noel Coward.

• The State Dining Room – Since the Britannia used on State Tours, the State Dining Room was used for formal lunches and dinners with such famous guests as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton.  Please note the numerous displays of gifts given to the Queen, most of the items were received on the Queen’s first Commonwealth tour which lasted almost six months.

• The Royal Bedrooms – The Britannia was considered a formal Royal residence and there are several bedrooms on board, such as Her Majesty’s bedroom and Prince Phillip’s bedroom, as shown in the photos below.  Also on board, is the Honeymoon Suite which is the only room furnished with a double bed and was used by four Royal couples.

• The Queen’s Sitting Room – Even though the Britannia was used by the Queen and the Royal Family at private times, the Queen’s work never stopped and every day she would work on the State papers from the “Red Boxes” in the her private Sitting Room.  The room was also used to meet with her Private Secretaries.

• The Bridge and the Wheelhouse – The Bridge of the Britannia was where the Captain and crew would run the ship; traditionally the position of Captain was held by a Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy although the first two were Vice Admirals and the last was a Commodore.  Visitors to the Bridge are able to tour the bridge and see all the navigational equipment, but Britannia ’s steering wheel in located one deck below in the Wheelhouse.

• The Laundry – The Britannia had a crew of over 240 Officers and Yachtsmen that changed their uniforms several times a day, an outfit for daytime work and formal uniforms for dinners or more formal occasions.  Visitors will be able to view the washing machines, dryers and presses for getting those sharp creases on the pants and shirts!

• The Galleys – There are actually several Galleys (kitchens) on the Britannia , there are two galleys that prepare the food for the ships officers and crew, also there is the Royal Galley where the chefs from Buckingham Palace were brought on board to prepare her meals.  The Royal Galley is located adjacent to the State Dining Room; today the area is used as the Royal Deck Tea Room where visitors can have tea or lunch.

• The Engine Room –  The Engine Room of Britannia is found far below deck and the engines generate 12,000 horsepower with a maximum speed of 22.5 knots, the Queen was known to bring her quests down to see the Engine Room after dinner.  The seemingly antiquated room of numerous chrome dials and two sets of steam turbines were fully functional and normally took eight men to operate the Engine Room and Boiler Room.

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A home stager is a professional who prepares a house for sale, aiming to attract more buyers and potentially secure a higher selling price. They achieve this through the following techniques:

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Their goal is to present the house in the best light. Home stagers in Elektrostal' help buyers envision themselves living there, increasing the chances of a successful sale.

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The Royal Yacht Britannia, Ocean Drive, Leith, Edinburgh EH6 6JJ

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22 March 2024

Photography has always played an important role on   Britannia. While she was in service, there was always a 'Yottie' appointed, nicknamed 'Snaps', to take photographs of life on board the Royal Yacht.

In keeping with this tradition, we now have our own Photographer in Residence, who has been capturing our very own Weekly 'Snaps' - a collection of snapshots of life around the ship today.

Due to construction work at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre, Britannia has been closed this week. As part of this redevelopment, Britannia will also be gaining a new Visitor Centre and Gift Shop which will involve us operating out of temporary accommodation whilst these new facilities are being created. Our temporary Gift Shop is now open on the Ground Floor of Ocean Terminal. 

Previous Weeks 2024

Previous weeks 2023, previous weeks 2022.

The Royal Yacht Britannia's Bell is the only place on the ship where you will find the ship's name. Lynne, Housekeeper, gives it a gleaming shine.

Anhelina, Housekeeper, maintaining the outside of the beautiful and relaxing Sun Lounge.

Britannia's new temporary Gift Shop is now open on the ground floor of Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre. Come along to choose from unique gifts and souvenirs.

A cup of tea accompanied by Britannia shortbread is the perfect treat. Purchase your tea and shortbread from our Shop to enjoy at home.

A glimpse at our temporary Ticket Office.

Antony Gormley's statue standing at the end of the old pier can be seen from our decks.

The gantry is removed and Britannia's Funnel has scaffolding in place for painting.

Another look at the scaffolding.

Jay making the new handset counter for the temporary Ticket Office.

Mark doing repair works to the replica dining room table prior to French polishing in the State Dining Room.

New Facilities Officer, William, painting the handset counter.

Rab priming the steelwork on the starboard Shelter Deck bulwark.

A perry buoy at the entrance to Britannia's sister ship, Fingal.

Chef de Partie, Patryk, one of the Galley crew at Fingal's Lighthouse Restaurant & Bar.

The stylish Ballroom is set for an evening of indulgent entertaining and can be hired for your exclusive event.

A delicious treat welcomes guests to their cabin at Fingal with these exquisite chocolates.

The Ensign of the Northern Lighthouse Board flies aboard the former NLB tender, Fingal.

Visiting Britannia

Tripadvisor’s No.1 UK Attraction 2023

Due to upcoming construction work at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre , Britannia will be closed 25-28 June.

Click on the Visit page  for all you need to know before you visit.

Step aboard to enjoy a great day out!

Fingal Hotel

Get away from the everyday aboard Britannia’s sister ship, Fingal.  Extend your visit with a stay in one of Fingal’s luxurious cabins, your own oasis by the sea. 

AA Hotel of the Year Scotland, AA five-star hotel and 2 AA Rosettes

Learn more: fingal.co.uk