ALL ABOARD BRITANNIA!
It was Her Majesty the Queen’s favourite residence and unique amongst the Navy’s fleet. Gillian Thornton takes a tour of Royal Yacht Britannia and steps closer to the royal family.
I’M not sure what I expected Her Majesty’s bedroom to look like, but the monarch’s bedchamber on board the Royal Yacht Britannia is surprisingly modest. Pastel walls offset simple teak furniture and floral soft furnishings, whilst above the bed a panel of ivory silk – embroidered with hedgerow flowers and butterflies – completes the relaxed atmosphere of a British country house.
I’m fascinated by the daily life of the Royal Family, but it’s a strange feeling to be looking into one of Her Majesty’s most private of private rooms. I half expect to feel a heavy hand on my shoulder at any moment and hear the barking of corgis. In other royal residences, the Queen’s bedroom would be strictly off limits, but on HMY Britannia, it’s a tour highlight for visitors from across the globe.
Permanently moored at Leith docks in Edinburgh, Britannia first opened her doors to the public in October 1998. As a big fan of royal palaces,
I’d long wanted to take the tour. Now, as I look over the glass barrier into the homely space, I can imagine the Queen sitting at the dressing table and brushing her hair, before slipping below the cover of her cosy single bed.
Her Majesty always insisted that Britannia had to feel like a family home, and a tour round this iconic vessel feels like a privileged glimpse inside her private domain. A door leads from her bedroom to a similar,
but more masculine room that belonged to the Duke of Edinburgh, whilst across the vestibule two other bedrooms were used by Prince Charles and Princess Anne as children.
Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones were the first newlyweds on board in 1960, islandhopping round the Caribbean, whilst poor Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips were both seasick for their first four days during violent storms in the West Indies. In 1981, the Prince and Princess of Wales toured the Mediterranean and, five years later, the Duke and Duchess of York honeymooned around the Azores.
Insights like these are what make the Royal Yacht Britannia a unique heritage destination, the chance to experience first-hand one of the Queen’s favourite – and most compact – royal residences. But the credentials of this iconic vessel go far beyond the notion of floating royal home.
Britannia has played a key role in a huge variety of world events, including the evacuation of refugees from South Yemen in 1986, and the handing over of Hong Kong to the Chinese in 1997, not to mention countless overseas trade missions.
The last of 83 royal yachts dating back to 1660, Britannia was built at the
Clydebank shipyard of John Brown & Co and was launched in April 1953 by Queen Elizabeth II with a bottle of Empire wine. Until that moment, only a handful of people knew what ship No. 691 was to be called.
Britannia was to spend 44 years in service, decommissioned in 1994 and making her final farewell tour in 1997 when, at 3.01 p.m. on December 11, Her Majesty was piped ashore for the last time. To this day, all clocks on Britannia are set to this time.
Visitors arrive via Ocean Terminal, a modern retail and leisure complex which leads through a visitor centre to the quayside and the famous polished decks. But first there’s a chance to gen up on some background information. Not just the statistics of ship and seamen, or Yotties, as the Royal Yacht crew came to be known, but some
mind-boggling statistics about life on board.
Britannia travelled a staggering 1,087,623 miles throughout her 44-year service. She took part in 696 royal visits overseas, 272 in home waters, and visited 135 countries along the way. I pore over official photos of high-profile guests such as President and Mrs Reagan, President Clinton, Mrs Thatcher and Nelson Mandela, but my favourites are the informal photos.
Prince Charles and Princess Anne as children with mops and buckets; the Queen stirring Christmas pudding with a wooden spoon whilst Prince Philip adds the brandy; and the couple waving to Concorde as it crosses the sky between their outstretched arms. Wallowing in nostalgia, I cross the gangway to set foot on board.
Britannia is unique, not just among royal accommodation, but also amongst the Royal Navy fleet. The only Royal Navy vessel not to carry her name on the hull, she is painted navy blue rather than black, with a broad stripe in gold leaf and no external rivets to spoil that sleek appearance.
“Somebody once asked me how many rivets are there on Britannia, which was a somewhat unexpected question, given that nobody can see any rivets!” Visitor Assistant Tim O’Brien reveals as I head to the first stop on the audio tour on the Bridge.
Britannia’s 20 officers and 220 yachtsmen ran every aspect of life on board in meticulous detail, and the Bridge is smaller than I imagined, with a single chair for the Admiral. As the vessel sailed into port, the Queen and Prince Philip would stand on the Royal Bridge beneath, waving at wellwishers.
Visitors explore the ship at their own pace with the help of the excellent audio guide, which offers 28 marked stops and a wealth of insider information. Who’d have thought that 1953 coins are placed beneath each mast as payment to the angels to guard the souls of sailors? Or that the Admiral could change uniform up to 12 times a day, depending on his official duties? As we
walk through his quarters, I half expect him to walk through the door.
I certainly don’t expect to see a Rolls Royce Phantom V on deck, safely behind glass now, but an important feature of early royal visits when a suitable car couldn’t be guaranteed in every port of call. Just beyond, we pass beneath a line of portholes, strategically higher than the others to avoid the temptation to peep into those royal bedrooms. Then it’s on to the Verandah Deck where the family played deck quoits or had fun in a collapsible swimming pool. A keen amateur painter, Prince Philip would also set up an easel here.
The Verandah Deck was scrubbed every morning before 8 a.m. so as not to disturb the royal guests. If a family member should approach at any time, protocol dictated that a crew member must stand still and look straight ahead until he or she had passed.
Other formalities were dispensed with, though. Britannia is the only Royal Navy vessel where Yotties were called by their Christian names.
In summer, the Royal Yacht was a regular visitor to Cowes Week regatta off the Isle of Wight, before a leisurely cruise to Scotland’s tranquil Western Isles.
“She [The Queen] got a week or ten days of sanctuary from anything that was on,” the Duke of York once said. “That little bit of tranquillity made up for all the other things that she had to do . . . it was a chance to have her family around her in her environment.”
It’s not hard to see why the Sun Lounge behind the Verandah Deck was a favourite space for relaxation. Bright and airy, it was perfect for breakfast or afternoon tea with a view of the sea. Today it’s popular with visitors, too, who love to see the contents of the games cupboard and cocktail cabinet, before passing into the suite of four royal bedrooms on the Shelter Deck.
Both the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh had a buzzer by the bed to summon a steward around the clock. Their clothes and accessories were kept in wardrobe rooms on the same deck, and the Queen could change outfits up to five times a day on State visits, whilst the Prince always needed to have his correct Naval medals and decorations.
The atmosphere in the bedrooms, and throughout the ship, in fact, is one of calm. No bright colours; no flashy furnishings. When Britannia was commissioned, Her Majesty rejected the initial interior design as being too fussy, favouring instead a traditional country-house feel created by Sir Hugh Casson.
“Simplicity was the key,” he once said. “Hence, for example, the grey carpeting which runs throughout the State Apartments. I also wanted to show off the quality of light at sea.”
Heading downstairs, visitors pass through the Wardroom Anteroom, a cosy sitting-room and bar where the audio guide explains the presence of a toy wombat astride the ceiling fan. This creature apparently gives its
name to the traditional Wardroom pastime of Wombat Tennis, where it was thrown into the ceiling fan and batted from one side of the room to another! On the wall, a historic button from Admiral Horatio Nelson’s coat is kept safe from flying wombats behind glass.
The Wardroom next door has the air of a gentleman’s club. Historic photos and artefacts line the walls, the perfect backdrop to the table where Britannia’s officers dined, wearing formal dress. Then it’s on through narrow passageways behind the galleys to visit the magnificent State Dining Room, always a favourite with visitors for its understated grandeur.
“On the tour route, the State Dining Room flows directly from the working Royal Galleys where the food was, and still is, prepared,” Tim O’Brien says. “As visitors walk into the first room of the State Apartments, they are always amazed at the variety of items, kindly on loan from the Royal Collection, that adorn the walls.”
It took three hours to set the table of 56 place settings, the position of each item measured with a ruler. Churchill and Gandhi are just two of countless dignitaries who ate at this table. Around the walls, a selection of gifts presented to Her Majesty on state visits include a Sioux peace pipe, a narwhal tusk and ceremonial swords.
Between the State Dining and Drawing Rooms I enjoy looking into the Queen’s Sitting Room on the starboard side, a private office equipped with a two-metre-long teak desk with a green leather top. With soft furnishings in pale pink and pale green, it’s an informal space where a great deal of formal, official work was carried out.
On the port side, the Duke of Edinburgh occupied a mirror-image space, but decorated in a more masculine style like his bedroom, with wood panelling and a model of HMS Magpie, his first Naval command in 1951 as a Lieutenant Commander. “I couldn’t help smiling at the visitor who declared, ‘That’s a good Man Cave’!” admits Tim.
Last stop in the Royal Apartments is the Anteroom and the State Drawing Room, which acted as the reception area for receiving visitors on state occasions. When the Royal Family were off duty, the sofas, patterned rugs and occasional tables provided the perfect environment in which to relax over a jigsaw or afternoon tea. The grand piano in the corner, fastened to the floor by bolts in case of rough seas, was once played by Sir Noel Coward, invited to dinner by Princess Margaret during a Caribbean cruise.
A tour of Britannia isn’t only about the Royal Apartments behind the mainmast though. The working side of the ship forward of the mainmast is equally fascinating. Visitors see the Admiral’s quarters close to the Bridge near the start of the visitor route, as well as the small private rooms occupied by the senior crew members.
At the end of the tour, there’s the chance to see the dormitory-style bunks for the crew, as well as the mess bar, where you can don a peaked hat and stand behind the bar with a mock pint for a souvenir photo. There’s also the opportunity to buy traditional British sweets at the old Mail Office and onboard shop as gifts for friends.
The laundry operation is formidable, larger than that of any other Navy ship of a similar size. Royal laundry was kept separate from crew clothes.
The sick bay and operating theatre are a reminder that illness could strike any passenger at any time. The Ship’s Doctor would look after the officers and crew, whilst the Queen was always accompanied by a Royal Navy Surgeon on overseas tours.
You don’t have to be an engineering buff to marvel at the pristine Engine Room, all polished chrome, white enamel and gleaming brass. So pristine, in fact, that in 1992, America’s General Schwarzkopf remarked, “OK, I’ve seen the museum piece. Now where’s the real Engine Room?”
A tour round Britannia is a leisurely experience to be taken at your own pace, and there’s no better way to complete the memory than with a light lunch or scrumptious afternoon tea in the Royal Deck Tea Room with panoramic views of the harbour.
Savour the moment – it’s your last chance to live like a royal!
For full information and ticket prices, visit www. royalyachtbritannia.co.uk. Closed December 25 and January 1 only.
All five decks are fully accessible via a central lift and the tour is fully accessible for wheelchair users. Flat, non-slip shoes are recommended.