76 Hours in Scotland - Day 4, Touring the Royal Yacht Britannia

Saturday February 2, 2019
We checked out of our hotel at 9:00 AM and caught the bus to the Ocean Terminal for our last sightseeing tour of our Edinburgh holiday, a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia.

Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, is the former royal yacht of the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, in service from 1954 until 1997.

This ship was built is Scotland and launched in 1953 by Queen Elizabeth. It served as a type of Royal Palace and home away for the Queen and a place where she could entertain guests while traveling.

It has also been used by members of the Royal Family, most notably in the last 35 yrs for the Honeymoons of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, and the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Sarah Fergeson.

Since this was an audio tour where we used handheld listening devices, we got to tour the boat at our own pace. Below Darryl is listening to information about the bridge of the boat.

On the Bridge

Overlooking the bow from the bridge.

Darryl was ahead of me on the tour so I had to take a selfie to prove I was there.

From the Britannia Website:

HMY Britannia was unique in that her Commanding Officer was always a Flag Officer, generally a Rear Admiral (however the first two were Vice Admirals and the last a Commodore). Having such a high ranking Officer as HMY Britannia's 'Captain' reflected the gravitas of the duties he had to undertake. In this respect, all crew (20 Officers and 220 Yachtsmen), were personally selected by the Commanding Officer.

****

Below is the Admiral's quarters.

The pink sofa and the green chair were from the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert III (1899)

This was where the Admiral dined when the Queen was not in residence. Otherwise he dined with the Queen and Royal Family.

Due to the lack of adequate transportation in some of the countries the Queen visited, this Rolls Royce was taken along and had it's own garage space on deck. It cleared the beams on either side by just inches.

 The Yachtsman pretty much stayed away and out of sight when the Queen was on board, but it is a small ship and it was inevitable they might see the Queen. While on the yacht the crew did not wear hats which meant they were out of uniform. This was done to eliminate the necessity of the Queen needing to return a salute every time a yachtsman crossed her path.

On this deck the Royal family relaxed in privacy, sunbathing or enjoying games. Prince Phillip would occasionally set up is easel and do some painting. There was even a collapsible swimming pool for them to take a dip in.

The Yacht's bell.

This beautiful teak lined sunroom on the Royal Deck looks out over the stern of the ship and was one of the Queen's favorite rooms. 

Family Pictures decorated most of the rooms on the yacht. Below is King George VI and Queen Elizabeth with Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret on the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert III.

King George V with his sons Prince Albert Edward (Edward VIII) and Prince George (George VI). 

The Queen's Bedroom

Prince Phillip's Bedroom. As in the palace, their rooms are adjoined by a door.

The only double bed on the yacht was installed at the request of Prince Charles for his honeymoon with Princess Diana.

A lounge and Bar

A portrait of Queen Victoria

The Officer's dining room where the Royal Family dined when they weren't entertaining.

Part of the Galley. 

The china storage

The State Dining Room.

This ship is still a working ship for the kitchens and Galley's as you can rent this dining room and adjoining rooms to host your special event. Corporate dinners, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, they do it all. They had an event scheduled that evening.

The Queen's office was on the starboard side and

Prince Phillips office was across the hall looking out the port side.

The I believe this is the Officer's Mess.

The "Yotties" or Yachtsmens' bunks.

Not much privacy, that's for sure.

The bunks in blue are where the Marines and slept.

And of course, since this was in the days before mass air travel, some of the yachtsman were band members as the Queen needed her band for many Royal occasions.

The store. I bought a lovely burlap tote and some candy here.

The enlisted men's mess for the "Yotties" or Yachtsman as they were called, and the Marines.

An Officers' quarters.

Sick Bay

Operating room. Due to the times, just shortly after WWII, the Britianna was built with the capability to be turned into a 200 bed hospital ship. They could make that transition within 24 hours if needed.

The Laundry.

The Royal Barge which would take the Queen from the Yacht to land.

The Engine room.

The Racing Yacht Bloodhound, once owned by the Queen and Prince Phillip.

In August 2019 you will be able to start booking sailing trips on this yacht.

If you ever visit Edinburgh I can highly recommend this tour, it was definitely worth the £11.00

After our nautical tour it was time to head back to England. 

We had a lovely drive down the coast road and saw some spectacular views.