Experiencing The Royal Yacht Britannia – A Remarkable Piece of Royal History in Edinburgh
Experiencing The Royal Yacht Britannia
A Remarkable Piece of Royal History in Edinburgh
There are some places you visit where you know roughly what to expect before you arrive. The Royal Yacht Britannia was one of those places for me, but I have to say that actually stepping aboard was far more interesting than I had imagined.
Moored at Leith in Edinburgh, Britannia is an impressive sight, but it is only once you start exploring the ship that you begin to understand just how special she is. This was not simply a yacht used for the occasional royal engagement. For more than forty years, Britannia travelled around the world, carrying the Royal Family on official visits, state occasions and private holidays.
I have always had an interest in places with a story behind them, particularly those where much of the original character has been preserved. Britannia certainly falls into that category.
Stepping Aboard
One of the things I liked about the experience was being able to explore the different areas of the ship and gradually discover how life aboard worked.
Britannia was launched in 1953 and entered service with the Royal Navy shortly afterwards. She would eventually travel more than a million nautical miles before being decommissioned in 1997.
Those figures are impressive, but walking through the ship makes the history feel much more real.
You can look through photographs of Britannia sailing into ports around the world, but standing on her decks in Edinburgh and looking along the length of the ship gives you a completely different appreciation of her size and purpose.
There is also something slightly strange about remembering that you are exploring what was once a working Royal Navy vessel and, at the same time, effectively a floating royal residence
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The Royal Apartments
Naturally, the Royal Apartments are among the most fascinating parts of the visit.
What surprised me was how restrained many of the rooms are.
Anyone expecting enormous amounts of gold, extravagant furniture and over-the-top decoration might be surprised. There is certainly elegance, but there is also a rather comfortable and practical feel to much of Britannia.
The Queen's bedroom, Prince Philip's bedroom and the other private areas give a fascinating glimpse into a side of royal life that most people would never normally have seen.
I found myself spending quite a bit of time simply looking at the details.
The furniture, photographs, desks, lamps and personal touches make the rooms feel as though their occupants have only recently left.
That is one of Britannia's great strengths. It doesn't feel like somebody has attempted to recreate history afterwards. You are standing inside the actual ship where that history happened.
The State Dining Room
The State Dining Room is altogether different.
This was where some extremely important people were entertained during Britannia's travels around the world, including presidents, prime ministers and other heads of state.
It is a beautiful room, but again it isn't ridiculously extravagant.
I actually liked that.
You can imagine the preparations that must have gone into a state dinner aboard Britannia, particularly when the yacht was thousands of miles away from Britain.
Looking around the dining room also makes you realise that Britannia wasn't simply transporting the Royal Family. She was representing Britain wherever she went.
The Drawing Room
The Drawing Room was another part of the yacht that caught my attention.
It feels considerably more relaxed than the formal State Dining Room and gives a better impression of Britannia as somewhere the Royal Family actually lived.
There is even a piano, famously played by members of the Royal Family and their guests.
Again, it is those small details that I found more interesting than the grandeur.
You start imagining evenings aboard the yacht after the official engagements had finished, when Britannia was sailing somewhere far from home.
Below Decks
For me, however, some of the most interesting parts of Britannia were not the royal rooms at all.
Going further into the ship reveals an entirely different world.
Britannia needed a large crew to operate her, and seeing where the sailors – traditionally known aboard Britannia as Yachties – lived and worked provides a fascinating contrast with the Royal Apartments above.
Their accommodation was obviously much more basic.
There are bunks, mess areas and working spaces that remind you very quickly that Britannia was a functioning ship.
I think seeing both sides is important because without the crew there simply wouldn't have been a Royal Yacht.
These were the people keeping the ship running, maintaining her appearance, preparing meals, navigating and carrying out the countless jobs required aboard a vessel travelling around the world.
The Engine Room
I particularly enjoyed seeing the engine room.
It is remarkably clean.
In fact, considering this was the working heart of the ship, it almost seems too clean. The polished machinery and equipment show the extraordinary standards that were maintained aboard Britannia.
For anyone interested in engineering, it is well worth taking some time here rather than simply walking through.
The contrast is wonderful. One minute you can be looking at elegant royal accommodation and beautifully laid dining tables; not long afterwards you are surrounded by pipes, gauges, machinery and the equipment that actually drove Britannia across the world's oceans.
The Bridge
The bridge was another highlight for me.
Standing there gives you a much better sense of Britannia as a ship rather than simply a royal residence.
This was where she was navigated around the world.
Looking through the bridge windows and imagining Britannia approaching somewhere such as Sydney, Hong Kong, New York or one of the many other destinations she visited adds another dimension to the experience.
It is easy to forget, while she sits quietly at Leith, just how much travelling this ship actually did.
Life on Britannia
Perhaps what I enjoyed most was discovering the little details about everyday life aboard.
Britannia had her own traditions and routines. There were strict standards, particularly when it came to keeping the yacht immaculate, yet there was clearly tremendous pride amongst those who served aboard her.
The Yachties seem to have regarded Britannia as far more than simply another posting.
And I think you can still sense some of that pride when walking around today.
Everything had its place. Everything had a purpose.
Even something as simple as moving around the yacht becomes interesting when you begin thinking about hundreds of people living and working together while crossing oceans.
A Very Different Royal Attraction
I have visited quite a few historic buildings and museums over the years, but Britannia is different.
Perhaps it is because ships have an atmosphere that buildings don't.
There are narrow corridors, steep stairways, decks, portholes and countless little spaces to investigate. You are constantly reminded that this entire world once moved.
Today, of course, Britannia sits permanently at Leith, but it doesn't take much imagination to picture her at sea.
That was probably the part I enjoyed most.
I wasn't simply looking at exhibits behind glass. I was walking through the actual rooms, corridors and decks used during more than four decades of royal service.
My Thoughts
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to The Royal Yacht Britannia.
I went expecting an interesting look around a famous royal vessel, but came away with a much greater appreciation of the ship itself and, particularly, the people who worked aboard her.
Yes, there is the royal history, and naturally that is a major part of the attraction. But there is also maritime history, engineering, social history and the story of the Yachties who kept Britannia operating to an extraordinary standard.
The Royal Apartments are fascinating, the State Dining Room is impressive and the bridge gives you a wonderful sense of the yacht's working life, but I would definitely recommend taking time to explore the crew areas and engine room as well.
For me, those contrasts are what make Britannia so interesting.
From royal bedrooms and state dinners to cramped crew accommodation and immaculate machinery below decks, it is all contained within the same ship.
And when you eventually step ashore again, it is quite difficult to imagine that Britannia once sailed away from Britain and travelled more than a million nautical miles around the world.
Now she rests quietly in Edinburgh.
I am very glad I finally had the opportunity to step aboard.
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