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

Tel: 0131 555 5566 Email us: [email protected]

Britannia will be closed 11-23 March and 25-28 June due to the redevelopment of Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre

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A Sombre Farewell

On 23 June 1994, John Major's Government announced there would be no refit for HMY Britannia as the costs would be too great. After a long and successful career spanning 44 years and travelling over 1 million miles around the globe, it was announced that the last Royal Yacht was to be decommissioned.

There was no immediate decision about a replacement, but the question of a new Royal Yacht became a political issue in the run up to the 1997 General Election. After the election, the new Labour Government eventually confirmed in October 1997 there would be no replacement for Britannia . 

Final Voyage

On 20 October 1997, HMY Britannia left Portsmouth on her farewell tour around the UK. This was a clockwise circumnavigation of Britain, calling at six major ports, including Glasgow. As she sailed past John Brown's Shipyard, she gave a blast on her sirens, in fond farewell to the yard which had proudly built her.

Day of Decommissioning

It was a sad day when the Royal Family finally bid farewell to a ship that had so faithfully served her family and her country for over forty years. All the clocks on Britannia were stopped at 15:01, the time Queen Elizabeth II was piped ashore for the last time. This was one of the few occasions Queen Elizabeth II publicly shed a tear as The Band of HM Royal Marines played the highly emotive 'Highland Cathedral.'

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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned? Where it is moored now and the history of the ship

The yacht is now a permanent visitor attraction in port leith, edinburgh.

Season five of The Crown starts in 1991 with the fictional Queen all-but-demanding a new Royal Yacht from then-Prime Minister John Major.

The luxurious yacht was a mainstay for Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , and comfortably carried the royals and dignitaries across the globe between 1953 and 1997.

King Charles II first launched the idea that a personal boat was essential for a ruling monarch, and by the time Elizabeth II acceded to the throne the Royal Yacht had evolved into a vessel of opulence, designed for long journeys and luxurious holiday cruises.

The Royal Yacht Britannia had spacious cabins, an onboard car garage, sun lounge, drawing room, plush bedrooms and amenities for 220 crewmembers (including several bars and pubs).

What happened to the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The first episode of the new season of The Crown shows the Queen lobbying for a new boat to replace the out-dated Royal Yacht Britannia. However, the replacement vessel never came to fruition.

In 2018, The Times reported that the Queen had “secretly lobbied Whitehall” in 1995, when senior Buckingham Palace official, Sir Kenneth Scott, wrote to the Cabinet Office saying that the Queen would “very much welcome” a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The letter, found in the National Archive, said: “I have deliberately taken a back seat in recent correspondence, since the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the Government and since the last thing I would like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht’.

“At the same time I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the palace in no way implies that Her Majesty is not deeply interested in the subject; on the contrary, the Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st Century the kind of service which Britannia has provided for the last 43 years.”

The Queen was later photographed crying as the boat moored in Portsmouth after its final journey.

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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned?

Despite the monarch’s love of the yacht, Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 after Tony Blair was voted into power.

However, Boris Johnson imagined a new Royal Yacht to replace Britannia . The project was later scrapped – making it the fourth plan of his to have been axed at a total cost of more than £51m to the British taxpayer.

Rishi Sunak abandoned plans for the flagship, which would have been used to drive trade deals in the post-Brexit Britain , as he embarked on an agenda of cutting spending in the Autumn Statement .

Building the ship, which was set to launch by the end of 2024, would have cost in the region of £250m.

Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia now?

The yacht is now a permanent attraction in Port Leith, Edinburgh, and welcomes up to 300,000 visitors a year.

There was controversy over the siting of the ship, with some arguing that it would be better moored on the River Clyde, where it was built, than in Edinburgh. However, the ship’s positioning in Leith coincided with a redevelopment of the harbour area, and the advent of Scottish devolution.

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Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia and why was it decommissioned?

Queen Elizabeth’s farewell to the Royal Yacht in 1997 was one of the only occasions in her 70-year-reign that Her Majesty publicly shed a tear.

Almost 25 years ago, HMY Britannia left Portsmouth for a farewell tour around the UK . It went to six major ports across the UK, including Glasgow.

Why was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned and where is it today?

Why was it decommissioned?

The Royal Yacht was decommissioned in 1994 by John Major’s Government because “the costs were too great”, according to the official website.

The decision was made after the Royal Yacht was used for a long and successful journey spanning 44 years and travelling more than one million miles across the globe.

The issue of a new royal yacht became a political issue in the run-up to the 1997 General Election, when the new Labour Government came into power.

After the election, Tony Blair’s Government confirmed in October 1997 there would be no replacement for Britannia.

It marked the end of a long tradition of British royal yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II.

Where is the HMY Britannia?

Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland .

Today, the Royal yacht is open to curious visitors and welcomes more than 300,000 visits each year.

Britannia was launched in 1953 from the John Brown and Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland .

Its purpose was to serve the Royal Family and it was the first to be built with complete ocean-going capacity, designed as a royal residence to entertain guests around the world.

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For more than 44 years, it travelled more than one million miles with Her Majesty for state visits, official receptions, royal honeymoons, and relaxing family holidays.

Britannia quickly became one of the most famous ships in the world and now stands as a majestic symbol of Great Britain.

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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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Transportation History

Finding the unexpected in the everyday.

The Retirement of a Longtime Royal Yacht

December 11, 1997

Britannia, a vessel that had served as the royal yacht of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II for more than four decades, was decommissioned in a ceremony at the Portsmouth naval base on England’s south coast.  Along with highlighting Britannia’s “brass fittings gleaming in the winter sunshine and flags rippling in a brisk breeze,” the Associated Press (AP) focused on the royal couple who were on hand for this weekday ceremony.

“Queen Elizabeth II struggled with her emotions and Prince Phillip wiped away a tear as they bid farewell Thursday to the magnificent yacht on which they toured a diminishing empire,” reported AP. “As the setting sun cast its golden light on the yacht, the strains of ‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves,’ played by a pipe band, proved too much for even the long-practiced royal composure.”

In its account of this decommissioning ceremony, the Ottawa Citizen noted that “no royal yacht was ever as versatile or well-traveled as Britannia.” This newspaper also reported, “Few ships have sailed 1.92 kilometers [1 million nautical miles]. Only this one has done so using its original engines.”

The 412-foot (126-meter) Britannia had been built at the shipyard of the engineering firm John Brown and Company in the Scottish town of Clydebank. The yacht was launched by Queen Elizabeth on April 16, 1953, a little over a year after she ascended the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI. Britannia was officially commissioned into service  on January 11, 1954.

Britannia’s maiden voyage took place that April, when she transported Princess Anne and Prince Charles from Portsmouth to the British colony (now independent republic) of Malta so that they could reunite with their parents at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth Tour. The following month, Elizabeth and Phillip traveled on Britannia for the first time during a a visit to the port city of Tobruk in the Kingdom (now State) of Libya.

Britannia was the 83 rd British royal yacht in an unbroken line of such vessels going all the way back to King Charles II, who formally reigned as monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1660 to 1685. Charles used his pioneering 50.5-foot (15.4-meter) vessel named Mary primarily for racing. Britannia was only the second British royal yacht bearing that name. The first one was a racing cutter (a type of high-speed sailing vessel) built in 1893 for Queen Victoria’s son Edward, Prince of Wales, who later ascended the throne as King Edward VII after the death of his mother.

Elizabeth’s royal yacht Britannia ultimately transported her, other members of the British Roytal Family, and various dignitaries on a grand total of 272 visits in British waters and 696 foreign trips. One of the yacht’s more notable trips abroad occurred during the summer of 1959, when Elizabeth traveled on Britannia via the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway to get to Chicago. This voyage made Elizabeth the first British monarch to visit the Windy City. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was on board the yacht for part of the that cruise through the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Other U.S. presidents who spent time on board Britannia were Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

During her many years of service, Britannia also performed significant roles that went well beyond providing a means of transportation for the British Royal Family. In 1986, for example, the yacht was used to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from the port city of Aden after a civil war erupted in what was then the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula.

At the decommissioning ceremony for Britannia in 1997, Elizabeth took time to say a few words about the yacht and its importance. “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,” said the queen.

In the time since she was retired from active service, Britannia has been berthed at the Port of Leith in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. The yacht, which has been included in the National Historic Fleet (a list of historically significant vessels located in the United Kingdom), is now a popular tourist attraction. A registered charity known as the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust is responsible for Britannia’s continued care and maintenance.

For more information on the British royal yacht Britannia, please check out https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/about/history/

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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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What Happened To The Royal Yacht Britannia After It Was Decommissioned?

The event was one of the extremely rare displays of emotions from the queen.

If you’ve binged season five of The Crown , then you’ll be familiar with the Royal Yacht Britannia . As dramatized in the series, Queen Elizabeth’s beloved yacht was decommissioned in 1997. However, that wasn’t the end of the famous seacraft’s story. Here’s where the Royal Yacht Britannia is today.

The Britannia Began Sailing In 1954

Originally commissioned for her father, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth oversaw the construction of the Royal Yacht Britannia . She and Prince Philip advised the ship’s design, offering input on the furnishings of each room. Philip later said in a 1995 documentary about the yacht that this is what made the seacraft so special to him and Elizabeth.

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“I suppose Britannia was rather special as far as we were concerned because we were involved from the very beginning in organizing the design and furnishing and equipping and hanging the pictures and everything else,” he explained. “For us it was rather special because all the other places we live in have been built by our predecessors. They started building Windsor 1,000 years ago, and they built Balmoral 100 years ago, and they built Sandringham 70 or 90 years ago. So we, in a sense, had our own.”

Queen Elizabeth and her family took countless trips on the yacht. The queen even stated that the yacht was the one place she could truly relax, though it did far more than that. The craft was used to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from Yemen in 1981. It’s been used to greet presidents and take royals on their honeymoons. Prince Charles and Princess Diana took their own honeymoon cruise on the yacht before it was decommissioned on December 11, 1997.

The Royal Yacht Britannia Is Now A Museum

After it was decommissioned in 1997, the ship became part of the National Historic Fleet and was moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. The ship is now maintained by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, a registered non-profit, and it serves as a museum . There was certainly a strong effort within the British government to greenlight plans for a new royal yacht, although the extravagance of such a move proved unattractive for both politicians and the royal family.

Tourists can now board the famous ship, peek inside its many rooms, and even have a meal in the Royal Deck Tea Room. The ship has been preserved to appear the same as it did when it was sailing. All of the clocks onboard were even stopped at 3:01 p.m., the exact time Queen Elizabeth last departed the ship. However, the yacht hasn’t lost its royal connection entirely. It is still rented out periodically for special events. Notably, Zara Tindall held a cocktail reception on the yacht the night before her wedding to Mike Tindall.

Last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to construct another royal yacht . However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced that the £250 million plan was trashed . Given the gigantic cost of such an endeavor, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see another royal yacht sail the English Channel.

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What to Know About the Royal Yacht Britannia Featured on 'The Crown' Season 5

The Royal Yacht Britannia served as the official royal yacht of the British monarchy for 44 years

The Crown is diving into royal events from the '90s in season 5 , and that includes the decommissioning of Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia.

In the first episode of the new season, Claire Foy ( who portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1 and 2) reprises her role as the monarch as a flashback shows the yacht's official launch in April 1953.

At the time, the new yacht held special significance as it was launched by the Queen just before her own coronation in June 1953 .

Through the years, the vessel sailed over 1,000,000 nautical miles on 968 state visits with the royal family as they entertained prime ministers and presidents, per the Royal Yacht Britannia website. It also served as the venue for several royal honeymoons , including Princess Diana and Princes Charles in 1981 .

From when it was commissioned to where the Royal Yacht Britannia is now, here's everything to know about the royal yacht.

When was the Royal Yacht Britannia commissioned?

As shown on The Crown , Royal Yacht Britannia was officially launched on April 16, 1953 , at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, where Queen Elizabeth unveiled the yacht's official name.

Following Queen Elizabeth 's coronation on June 2, 1953, the Royal Yacht Britannia was commissioned into the Royal Navy on January 11, 1954, before sailing her first overseas port on April 22.

How big is the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The Royal Yacht Britannia is about 412 feet long , with a beam width of 55 feet and five decks , and weighs over 4,000 tons.

Who used the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The yacht was described as the royal family's "floating residence" during its 44 years of service. As it was used to host "magnificent state receptions and banquets, and guests ," numerous world leaders boarded the yacht over the years, including Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan and Rajiv Gandhi.

Per the Royal Yacht Britannia website, the yacht also " allowed the Royal Family some rare privacy away from their public duties and was famously described by HM Queen Elizabeth II as 'the one place I can truly relax.' "

Furthermore, the Royal Yacht Britannia was the venue of four royal honeymoons : Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. All four royal marriages ended in divorce, which Queen Elizabeth famously reflected on in her 1992 speech where she referred to the past year as her "annus horribilis ," or horrible year.

When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned?

The yacht's retirement was announced in 1994 as a result of the substantial costs needed to repair the ship. It was estimated that the cost would £17 million, which would only prolong the yacht for another five years.

On December 11, 1997, the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned during an official ceremony that was attended by most of the senior members of the royal family. It was been reported that Queen Elizabeth was seen uncharacteristically shedding a tear during the decommissioning.

"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," the Queen said at the time .

Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia now?

Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, people can now visit the Royal Yacht Britannia at Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. Visitors are able to see various parts of the yacht including Britannia's five decks, the state apartments, as well as the Sun Lounge, which was the Queen's favorite room in which to have her afternoon tea.

Does the Royal Yacht Britannia have a successor?

Plans for a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia first began in 2019 when it was reported that the late Sir Donald Gosling had donated £50 million to pay for the construction . In 2021, the yacht was commissioned by Boris Johnson to host trade fairs and diplomatic events and it was expected to go into service in 2024 or 2025.

However, in November 2022, it was reported by BBC that plans for the yacht were being scrapped as the government "searches for spending cuts." The new yacht was estimated to cost up to £250 million.

The rare times the late Queen was moved to tears in public - see emotional photos

The monarch has welled up on the rare occasion.

The Queen  dedicated her life to royal service, and over the years developed a steadfast and resolute public persona. In times of great adversity, she steadied the nation with her unwavering strength and stoicism and is regarded worldwide as the epitome of a true leader.

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But the late monarch did show emotion on rare occasions, one of which has now been featured in  The Crown . Her Majesty was seen in tears when Prime Minister John Major told her the Royal Yacht Britannia would be decommissioned. Although we won't know if the Queen cried when she learnt of the moment, but see was seen in tears at the ceremony.

As the moment features in  The Crown ,  HELLO!  looks back at all the times the Queen showed emotion in public life.

WATCH: Royal family releases footage from the Queen's childhood

Aberfan – 1966

In October 1966, tragedy hit the coaling mining village of Aberfan, South Wales, when a colliery spoil tip located directly above the village slid downhill. The devastating event resulted in the death of 144 people, 116 of whom were children. One day after the final victim was recovered from the debris, the Queen and Prince Philip travelled to pay their respects to the deceased and their loved ones.

It was later reported that waiting eight days to visit was one of the monarch's biggest regrets, but she appeared visibly moved as she walked around the site of the tragedy with her husband. "I think she felt in hindsight that she might have gone there a little earlier. It was a sort of lesson for us that you need to show sympathy and to be there on the spot, which I think people craved from her," said Sir William Heseltine, who worked in the royal press office at the time of the tragedy.

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The Queen and Prince Philip pictured on their visit to Aberfan

The Queen's visit to Aberfan was put under the spotlight once again in season three of The Crown . Many criticised the portrayal of the monarch, who is told in one scene to "display emotion". Actress Olivia Colman , who stars as the monarch, later voiced the line: "I dabbed a bone-dry eye and by some miracle no one noticed."

However, viewers were less than impressed by the "cold-hearted" portrayal of the Queen, with one tweeting: "Shame on the #TheCrown's producers! It's ridiculous how they portrayed the Queen as unfeeling during the Aberfan disaster. There's a video on YouTube of her visit and she is clearly upset."

Harold Wilson's then-press secretary Joe Haines also commented on the narrative that the Queen was faking her tears at Aberfan: "Anyone who saw her at The Cenotaph knows that," he said, calling the show's narrative "absolute nonsense".

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The Decommissioning of Royal Yacht Britannia – 1997

The Queen famously shed a tear when she attended the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia during a ceremony in Portsmouth in 1997. Overcome with emotion, she was seen wiping her eyes as her beloved yacht was taken out of service after 22 years.

The Queen had a deep personal affection for the vessel, which she had herself launched in April 1953. It carried the monarch and her family on a number of occasions, on both official and private family voyages. She transported Princess Anne and the then- Prince Charles to Malta in order for them to meet up with the Queen and Prince Philip at the end of their Commonwealth Tour, and Charles and Princess Diana took their honeymoon cruise on the Britannia in 1981.

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.

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The monarch wipes away a tear at the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia

The Royal Britannia is now a visitor attraction moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. The clocks on board are stopped at 3:01, the time that the Queen last disembarked the vessel. In July 2011, it once again welcomed the royal family when a drinks reception was held on board for Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall to celebrate their upcoming wedding.

Field of Remembrance – 2002

The Queen was moved to tears as she attended the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in 2002. It was an especially poignant visit as she took on her late mother's role at the ceremony, held in memory of Britain's war heroes.

The open-air service was rarely missed by the Queen Mother , and she had taken part in the ceremony in 2001, shortly before her death in March. Tears rolled down the Queen's face during a minute's silence after she planted a small wooden cross in remembrance.

Following that, there was a walkabout around the churchyard to inspect some of the 19,000 crosses from all over the country which pay tribute to the fallen. The Queen then attended a short service in St Margaret's Church.

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Attending the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey in 2002

A service for fallen soldiers of Duke of Lancaster regiment – 2016

The Queen became visibly emotional during a moving service for the fallen soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster regiment in 2016.

The monarch had just returned to her seat having unveiled a statue in memory of members of the regiment who have died since it was formed in 2006. The Queen has a deep personal attachment to the Duke of Lancaster regiment. She is its colonel-in-chief and it is also named after her. The Duke of Lancaster is one of the titles bestowed upon the sovereign.

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A tear rolls down the Queen's cheek at a service for fallen soldiers of the Duke of Lancaster regiment

With some 250 guests looking on, including soldiers severely injured in Afghanistan and the families of those killed in battle, a solitary tear could be seen rolling down her right cheek. The Queen was seen discreetly wiping it away with her gloved hand before managing to regain her composure. For a few moments afterwards, she closed her eyes. During the ceremony, she had laid a wreath with a simple message: "In memory of the glorious dead. Elizabeth R."

Remembrance Sunday service – 2019

The monarch pictured at the 2019 Remembrance Sunday service

The Queen was seen wiping away a tear during the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph in 2019 as Britain fell silent to honour Britain’s war heroes. The monarch, dressed in sombre black, was joined by the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duchess of Cambridge on the balcony above the Whitehall memorial for the annual ceremony. She looked on as her son Prince Charles placed the first wreath of red poppies on the Whitehall memorial; the Queen last performed the same duty in 2016.

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'The Crown': The Real History of the Royal Yacht Britannia and Its Significance to the Queen

Britannia served the Queen and her family until the very end.

The penultimate season of The Crown starts by going back to a scene in 1953 when Queen Elizabeth II is seen launching the Royal Yacht Britannia and without a doubt, the yacht itself becomes the first issue of contention in what is another season of The Crown that focuses on one of the most contentious decades in the lives of the royal family.

Commissioned in 1954, Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia necessitates repair – an act that's costly for the government to bear. In the first episode "Queen Victoria Syndrome," when Queen Elizabeth II ( Imelda Staunton ) requests Prime Minister John Major ( Jonny Lee Miller ) to incur the expenses for the yacht's repair, she finds herself disappointed as the Prime Minister reminds the Queen of the scrutiny such a big public expenditure will attract. This hesitation on the part of the Prime Minister to agree to the repair easily sends the Queen, who's already on the brink of dwindling popularity, into an emotional tizzy. Queen Elizabeth II reminds John Major that she expects her minor requests to be fulfilled in return for her service to the nation. It's clearly hinted that the Queen feels a deeper connection with Britannia – one which she compares to that of a home – as the Queen's relationship with Britannia is nearly as old as her relationship with the crown. In tracing the journey of Britannia, one can trace the journey of the Queen herself.

Before Britannia found its way to the heart of Queen Elizabeth II and the royal family, Victoria & Albert III, which was built for Queen Victoria, served the royal family for 38 years. Although it was named after Queen Victoria, she never stepped foot on it. Eventually, the former royal yacht was decommissioned in 1954. The requirement for a new royal yacht soon emerged under the reign of King George VI. The King wanted the ship to be more than just a luxury. Hence, the ship was supposed to also serve as a hospital during the war, the opportunity for which never came. Also, it was hoped that the yacht will help the King cope with the troubles of his ailing health. Finally, on February 4, 1952, the John Brown & Co shipyard in Clydebank received the order for a new ship that would go on to become the Britannia. Unfortunately, just two days after the order was given, King George VI passed away, an event that sets into motion the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, who was pushed into the role of the monarch suddenly.

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Queen Elizabeth II Introduced Britannia To The World

Upon the demise of King George VI, the responsibility to look over the construction and commissioning of Britannia fell on the Queen herself, and it was a responsibility that she fulfilled in glorious fashion as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were closely involved in the pre-commission years of the royal yacht. The original design was proposed by the design firm McInnes Gardner & Partner, but the design was judged to be too lavish for a country recovering from the aftermath of a war. Hence, the Queen and the Duke opted for a design in tune with the times. In fact, the Queen herself picked the color of the paint for the walls and the woodwork and metalwork. As clarified by the Queen in "Queen Victoria Syndrome," the yacht meant more than a luxury for the Royal Highness.

Among the many residences that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip owned, Britannia was one that reflected the Queen's preferences the most for what a dream house would look like. Although a home away at sea, Britannia was easily the dearest of all places for the Queen who witnessed her home's construction as well as her disassembly all in one lifetime. As shown in the first episode of Season 5, when Queen Elizabeth II proudly introduced the ship to the world by saying, "I name this ship Britannia… I wish success to her and all who sail in her," she was introducing the world to something extremely personal; something that she was highly proud of – her very own home. Britannia was launched by the Queen on April 16, 1953 , and commissioned on January 11, 1954. Royal Yacht Britannia served Prince Charles and Princess Anne on her maiden voyage, taking them to the Queen and the Duke at the end of the royals' Commonwealth tour. The senior royals were also hosted by the royal yacht in May of the same year.

Royal Yacht Britannia Was Integral To The Royal Family's Life

Britannia was not merely a means of transport for the royal family. Instead, the royal yacht had become an essential part of the royals' lives by the end of its 44-year-long tenure. Britannia was a constant companion of the Queen on many historic visits. In 1959, Britannia took the Queen to Chicago for an event that celebrated the opening of the St. Lawrence seaway in Canada. During the visit, President Dwight Eisenhower was hosted on board. Aboard Britannia, the Queen also traveled to the UAE for her first official visit. In 1986, the royal yacht was sent on a rescue mission to save refugees from the civil war in Yemen , fulfilling King George's dream of having a royal yacht that also served the people in times of distress. Over the million miles that the yacht traversed, Britannia hosted many more dignitaries such as Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, and Prime Minister Winston Churchill, among others.

The royalty of the yacht also matched that of the many other residences with royal bedrooms, a 56-seat dining room, drawing rooms, and ample cabins for the officers. The yacht also contained a garage for the Queen's Rolls-Royce which served her on all visits. The yacht was also a vacation home for the royal family on the Western Isles tour, which the family would undertake during the summers. The Britannia has taken the Queen on many journeys to her castle at Balmoral, the Queen's summer retreat.

Britannia Hosted Multiple Royal Honeymoons

Britannia was also dear to the other royals in the family as well. Using Britannia for the royal honeymoon was a tradition instated by Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong-Jones in 1960. Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips were also hosted on board for their royal honeymoon in 1973. Probably the most famous royal couple of them all, Prince Charles and Princess Diana also spent their honeymoon on Britannia, away from the media. The string of royal honeymoons on Britannia came to an end with Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's journey in 1986. Although all these couples later parted ways, Britannia definitely proved to be the perfect host for them in the happier times of their lives.

Queen Elizabeth II Bid Farewell To Britannia With Heavy Heart

By the beginning of the 1990s, Britannia was already in its waning years as, naturally, more than 40 years of service had begun taking a toll on her. Season 5 of The Crown also focuses on this phase of Britannia, when questions around the repair and replacement of Britannia started coming into focus. Episode 1 of Season 5 of The Crown portrays the Queen directly asking Prime Minister Major for a "sign-off" on the repairs of the Britannia. However, it cannot be confirmed whether the Queen really made a request to the Prime Minister directly.

In 1994, the Conservative government headed by Prime Minister Major announced that Britannia will be decommissioned in 1997 owing to the massive cost of keeping the aged royal yacht running. In 2018, it was revealed by The Times that a senior official in Buckingham Palace had written to the cabinet office in 1995, expressing the Queen's welcoming stance on a replacement for Britannia. The mentioned letter was discovered in the national archive. With the general elections approaching in 1997, Britannia's existence became a national issue again with the Tories going back on their decision regarding the Britannia's decommissioning in hopes of finding some favor with the public. But fates had different things in store for Royal Yacht Britannia as the majority win by Tony Blair in 1997 sealed the fate of the yacht for once and for all.

In 1997, Britannia was finally decommissioned post its last voyage , taking Prince Charles to Hong Kong and back after the handover of the former colony to the People's Republic of China on July 1. The Queen's affection for the royal yacht found its strongest expression when she and Prince Philip were seen wiping tears off their face during the decommissioning ceremony at Portsmouth. Bidding farewell to her dear Britannia, the Queen 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."

Today, Britannia can be visited at the Port of Leith in Edinburgh where it remains a five-star visitor attraction . Unquestionably, Britannia served the Queen and her family in several ways through its 44 years of service. Season 5 of The Crown uses Britannia as a metaphor for the waning control of the monarchy itself as the Queen struggles to enjoy the same popularity that she once used to in light of the controversial events that haunted the family in the decade. While the initial problems with Britannia marked the beginning of the fall, the ultimate decommissioning brought to closure a decade of turmoil. Irrespective of the place The Crown allocates to it in the scheme of priorities for the royal family, the Royal Yacht Britannia was one home that the Queen loved dearly, if not the most, as a result of the many memories attached to the last royal yacht.

clock This article was published more than  1 year ago

What really happened to Royal Yacht Britannia from ‘The Crown’ Season 5?

LONDON — The much-hyped fifth season of “The Crown” opens with a heavy-handed metaphor weighing approximately 4,000 tons.

It’s 1953, and a young Queen Elizabeth II, a month before her coronation, is in Scotland to launch the new royal yacht, the Britannia. “I hope this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant, capable of weathering any storm,” she declares to great applause.

And so the queen and her ship are inextricably linked as the Netflix TV show fast-forwards to 1991, when questions about costly repairs for the Britannia are presented in parallel to questions about whether the 65-year-old queen is too old for her role.

King Charles III wants to look ahead. ‘The Crown’ drags him back.

There is no missing that this is a narrative device in a series now labeled a “fictional dramatization.” But the episode’s release this week has renewed interest in the history of the royal yacht and ignited a debate about how the British monarch interacted with her government. It also happened to coincide with a modern-day echo of 1991, as new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, facing a recession, sank plans for a replacement royal yacht.

What to know about Britannia, ‘the floating palace’

There is a real Royal Yacht Britannia, and, as in the show, the young queen really did announce its name and christen it with a bottle of Empire wine. (Though not with a self-referential speech.)

The Britannia was the latest in a series of royal yachts dating back to 1660 and King Charles II . In 44 years of service, the ship sailed more than 1 million nautical miles — equivalent to more than 40 circumnavigations of Earth — calling at more than 600 ports in 135 countries and projecting British influence around the world.

The Britannia was used for state visits and receptions, royal family holidays and honeymoons. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all spent time on board, as did Boris Yeltsin and Nelson Mandela. When civil war broke out in South Yemen in 1986, the yacht was rerouted to help evacuate civilians.

“The Crown” suggests the yacht was the queen’s favorite “home,” cherished even more than Balmoral in the Scottish highlands. Biographers don’t dispute that this could have been true. In his book “Queen of Our Times,” Robert Hardman writes, “There were few places where the Queen would be happier.”

Although served by a crew of 220, the ship was a place where the royal family could relax and escape the watchful eye of the public. Hugh Casson, who designed the interior, once recounted, “the overall idea was to give the impression of a country house at sea.” Prince Philip, the queen’s husband, was fascinated with the birds he saw during voyages in the 1950s and even published a book titled “Birds from Britannia.”

Did the queen lobby for repairs?

The controversial part of “The Crown” portrayal centers on whether the queen actively lobbied Prime Minister John Major for the government to pay for extensive repairs — which could have amounted to inappropriate interference in politics by a constitutional monarch.

She says in the show: “Here I am, coming to you, prime minister, on bended knee, for the sign-off, but I’m hoping that will be a formality.”

The character of Major, who was prime minister during a tough recession, responds by suggesting the royal yacht is “something of a luxury” and that spending public money on it while the economy is in the tank would not be good for the government or the royal family.

The queen persists, arguing that the yacht is “a central and indispensable part of the way the crown serves the nation” and “a floating, seagoing expression of me.”

The queen-ship metaphor is dragged out in a later conversation, when the character of Prince Charles — impatient to be king — tells Major about the Britannia: “Sometimes these old things are too costly to keep repairing.”

So did any of that actually take place?

The real-life Major has called the show’s imagined conversations “a barrel-load of nonsense.”

Robert Lacey, a historical consultant on “The Crown,” defended the depiction. He told The Washington Post that the subject of the yacht would have inevitably come up between the queen and the prime minister, who met once a week to discuss matters of state.

“She certainly spoke about it to the prime minister,” Lacey said. “Obviously, the royal family would have lobbied for it. The queen did want another royal yacht.”

Hardman, the royal biographer, insisted that while the queen no doubt would have been interested in repairs or a replacement, she would not have “leaned on her prime ministers for money.”

In a letter written in 1994, later stored in the National Archives, the queen’s deputy private secretary Kenneth Scott wrote to the cabinet office that “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.”

Scott noted, however, that “the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the government” and “the last thing I should like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht.’”

The Times of London headline when the letter was uncovered in 2018: “ I want a new yacht, Queen told Whitehall in secret letter .”

What happened to the Britannia?

Major’s government wasn’t swayed by arguments to repair or renew the ship. Even with a retrofit costing an estimated 17 million pounds, the Britannia would be expensive to run and hard to maintain. It was hard to justify when air travel was a readily available alternative for royal trips and trade missions.

The yacht’s final voyage abroad was to Hong Kong in 1997, when the territory was handed back to China. A few months later, the Britannia undertook a farewell tour of Britain, calling at six major ports and blasting its sirens as it passed the shipyard that built it, before returning for a decommissioning ceremony in Portsmouth, England on Dec. 11, 1997. The ship’s clocks were stopped. The Royal Marines band played. Lacey noted: “The only time the queen was seen to cry was when the royal yacht was de-commissioned.”

The ship is now a visitor attraction site in Edinburgh, Scotland. On the day of the queen’s state funeral in September, a lone piper played a lament on the deck.

What about plans for a replacement royal yacht?

The possibility of a replacement yacht gained some traction during the 1997 general election, but the incoming Labour government nixed the idea.

More than two decades later, as part of a campaign to promote a reinvigorated “Global Britain” in the aftermath of Brexit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a new royal yacht . There was a push to name the ship after Prince Philip, who died last year, though it would be more for the government than for the royal family. In Johnson’s vision, the ship would tour the world as a “floating embassy,” where officials would host summits and cement trade deals. It would cost an estimated 250 million pounds to build, plus 30 million pounds a year to run.

But once again, the economic climate is not favorable for big yacht projects. The new Sunak administration announced this week that it was terminating the royal yacht plan and would instead procure a surveillance ship that could protect energy cables and other infrastructure. The prime minister’s spokesman said it was “right to prioritize at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made.”

'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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• Flotilla Radisson Royal

This was a surprise for me by my partner and daughter. Getting onto the boat was very orderly, and... read more

We did a lunch cruise, boarding at 1230hrs and returning to the dock promptly at... read more

Smooth ride on the Moskva River

Two and half hour ride in a panoramic boat. Excellent way to see the skyline and enjoy a nice meal. Love the desserts like their three-chocolate cake and the Honey Cake ( or Napolean Russian Cake) Very clean a spacious restaurant. Great and friendly staff. The menus are in english, a plus wen you don’t know a word of the Russian language like us! Highly recommended sight seeing!!

Dear Anita09Madrid, thank you for the feedback about your cruise on the yacht "Radisson Royal". On our 2,5-3 hours cruise passengers will enjoy the most remarkable sights of Moscow: Kremlin, Novodevichy Convent, monument to Peter I, St. Basil's Cathedral, University and other symbolic monuments. Flotilla "Radisson Royal, Moscow" combines picturesque views of Moscow sights with excellent catering service. Gourmet cuisine served on board “Radisson Royal” yachts is presented by 2 masterchefs: International cuisine from our Brand chef – Sergey Maslov and urban cuisine with a personal author's touch from the chief Nikolay Bakunov. We will be glad to see you again on Board our yachts! Best regards, administration of Flotilla “Radisson Royal”.

This was by far the most amazing tour ever at all levels. I booked the first class section of the Royal cruise "Primavera" and it met all my expectations. Private ambiance, comfortable, amazing views and superb service. Both, Dennis and Irina, our waiters, in spite of their limited English, went above and beyond to make us feel satisfied. They event commented on some of the sites as we passed by them trying to explain what they were. Though there is not sound commentary, there is a video on a huge screen that shows historical images of the areas we pass by, as a History teacher, I think this is a plus!! The food was also good with a varied menu. Drinks were superb and just the whole experience was fantastic. I truly recommend it to everyone and this is a MUST when you visit Moscow!!!

Dear Sol P, thank you for the feedback about your cruise on the yacht "Radisson Royal". We pay special attention to the comments and remarks of our Guests, and, of course, about the employees of the company. Flotilla “Radisson Royal” has 10 perfectly equipped yachts designed for year-round entertaining excursion cruises on the Moscow River with restaurant service aboard. Our company organizes cruises 365 days a year. On our 2,5-3 hours cruise passengers will enjoy the most remarkable sights of Moscow: Kremlin, Novodevichy Convent, monument to Peter I, St. Basil's Cathedral, University and other symbolic monuments. On Board of the yacht working with English speaking staff. Also on Board the yacht presented the guides with excursion material in 6 languages - Russian, English, Chinese, German, Spanish, French. We will be glad to see you again on Board our yachts! Best regards, Olga Tkacheva, brand-Manager.

I was looking for some Russian cuisine, called Radisson to make sure which cruise has this kind of menu - Royal Class. Tickets are more expensive for this yacht then Erwin River, for example, but menu here is very short and has only 2 (!) Russian dishes. What was the point to recommend the restaurant as Russian? I hardly could find some dishes I would choose, finally lamb chops was not tasty at all. Good thing is that restaurant manager excluded this dish from our bill. Wine list is also very short and don't have nice wines. If you want to take a cruise, chose then Erwin River, not Royal Class! Tickets are chieper & menu is much better, as well as sofas insight.

Dear Vera K! On behalf of the flotilla "Radisson Royal" thank You for taking the time to share your impressions about the last walk, leaving a detailed review! Please accept our sincere apologies for spoiled the impression resulting from the lack of attention from the staff. We will bring this information to the head of Department! The management of the fleet is constantly monitoring the prices, trying to make the menu affordable and tasty for everyone! Unfortunately, due to the specificity of the rolling stock menu is presented on the yacht, may not be as varied and exquisite in flow, in stationary restaurants. We will be glad to see you again on Board our yachts! Best regards, administration of Flotilla “Radisson Royal”.

Great fun and quite unique. I have done the Radisson Ice Breaker Cruise a number of times and it never loses its magic. On this occasion [February 17th 2018] , I had a meal as well and the marvellous Natalia accommodated my requests to stagger the meal---blini with red caviar, blini stuffed with veal, crab salad, blini with jam and sour cream so I could eat/drink[great cocktails] and enjoy the views. Will always do this when I am in Moscow in winter-followed up by dessert and a hot cocktail in the adjacent Hotel Ukraine after disembarking.

Dear feckerdoc, thank you for the feedback about your cruise on the yacht "Radisson Royal" and many thanks for the constant selection of yachts "Radisson" as your leisure. Flotilla “Radisson Royal” has 10 perfectly equipped yachts designed for year-round entertaining excursion cruises on the Moscow River with restaurant service aboard. Our company organizes cruises 365 days a year. Flotilla "Radisson Royal, Moscow" combines picturesque views of Moscow sights with excellent catering service. Gourmet cuisine served on board “Radisson Royal” yachts is presented by 2 masterchefs: International cuisine from our Brand chef – Sergey Maslov and urban cuisine with a personal author's touch from the chief Nikolay Bakunov. We will be glad to see you again on Board our yachts! Best regards, administration of Flotilla “Radisson Royal” .

Took a cruise with Radisson Royal on Valentine's night. It was a couples cruise. Very romantic. It was our third cruise with Radisson. Moscow is a beautiful city at night from the river.

Hello, dear Morris L! Thank you for the feedback about your cruise on the yacht "Radisson Royal". Flotilla “Radisson Royal” has 10 perfectly equipped yachts designed for year-round entertaining excursion cruises on the Moscow River with restaurant service aboard. Our company organizes cruises 365 days a year. Come on our thematic cruises and food festivals, you will discover still a lot. Let you offer a First class, respectable interiors, the attention of the stewards, privacy and comfort. And Royal-class – for anyone who knows how to relax, every Thursday, Friday and Saturday – live music. We will be glad to see you again on Board our yachts! Best regards.

See the sights of Moscow lit up as you dine your way along the river. Our food and service were excellent and even on a cold night we were completely warm and comfortable. We chartered the whole boat and had our own entertainment. A beautiful evening to remember.

Hello, dear skyhoosier! Thank you for the feedback about your cruise on the yacht "Radisson Royal" . Our main goal is to provide high quality services that will allow you to fully enjoy your trip and come back to us again. Come on our thematic cruises and food festivals, you will discover still a lot. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday cruises from pier "Radisson Royal hotel" with live musical accompaniment in the Royal class. We hope to see You again. With best wishes.