The Royal Yacht Britannia, a 417-foot floating palace, was decommissioned on December 11, 1997, after nearly half a century in service. It served as the royal residence for Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, and Princess Elizabeth. Today, it is permanently docked at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland, where visitors can take tours of its grand galleys or rent it out for events.
The yacht was a controversial vessel that served as Queen Elizabeth’s royal residence for 44 years, welcoming world leaders such as Sir Winston Churchill. After being decommissioned in 1997, it is now a museum open to the public in Edinburgh, Scotland. Visitors can explore the majestic ship’s grand galleys, tour the Queen’s bedroom, and rent it out for events.
The Royal Yacht Britannia is now open to visitors at any time of the year, with tours available of its grand galleys and state rooms used for entertaining. The ship has been a five-star visitor attraction and exclusive evening events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Tickets purchased in person are by card contactless.
In a bizarre 21st-century twist, the former British Royal Yacht Britannia is now open to the public as a museum, offering tours of the Queen’s bedroom, state rooms used for entertaining, and more.
📹 Get an inside look at Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Yacht Britannia
Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Yacht Britannia is celebrating its 70th anniversary where it now rests in Scotland’s Port of Leeth as a …
📹 A TOUR OF THE ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA
Join me for a private tour of the late Queen’s favourite home – The Royal Yacht Britannia. Go beyond the ropes for a look inside the …
The Queen first visit to a foreign country was Panama, my beloved country navigating the previous Royal vessel The Gothic. It crossed the Panama Canal while the queen and Prince Philip visited Cristobal on the Atlantic side and Panama City on the Pacific. As a 14 year old student (given the day off) I lined one of our narrow streets on her way to Panama presidential palace in a yellow convertible Cadillac with red leather upholstery. She was so delicate and to me, ten feet away, the most beautiful english rose. I am 84years old now sitting in my back patio next to my mango tree, retired bilingual Panama Canal claims expert, your loyal suscriber, … and the yellow Cadillac belonged to my cousin Josefina. Her father, a successful businessman gave it to her as a graduation present in 1952. Surprised you, eh!
Nicolas love xx l remember you saying it will be a honor and a bonus to see the queen you have accomplished your wish and you were able to visit the Britannia shop where the queen and family love and stayed thru out there journey. Awesome spectacular view my sweet Nicolas love their rooms and their office. Nice to see where they enjoyed their lives together and all the ship is fantastic. You are so cute with the Captain Hat 🤠 it is beautiful on you Nicolas . Thank you for bringing me to see this beautiful place . Our Queen was so happy and loved by all . See you soon love. Take care Nicolas. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
Ohhhhhh…. This was one of the most exciting articles I have seen from you… I looovvvveeed viewing the rooms and envisioned the Royal family and guests aboard. I was 5 when I sailed on the Queen Mary ( 1960). My mum, brother and I were in second class . My brother and I would sneak up to first class at night and watch! Lol we never got caught…well.. not from anyone except mum. We were ģoing to England back to my mums home in Norwich. The casualness of the rooms, almost understated reminded me of the Eisenhower’s and Churchill’s home. This was brillant…
Thank you! This made my day. I absolutely love the Yacht. The colors, the wood, the brass/metals, and how they made it a home away from home. I was picturing the Queen and her family being there and imagining what it would feel like to live that life… especially back in the 50s…a time in history I wish I could snap my fingers and be living in myself. ♥♥♥
Thank you so much for the tour, Nicholas! That was really interesting and I was particularly struck that nothing seemed over-the-top extravagant or ostentatious. It was all very tasteful and a lot of it quite humble. And their beds seemed very small. That surprised me. I liked seeing the little dogs in each room also. I’m sure they are Corgis!
Wow!! Nicolas – you are amazing!! – a wonderful inspiring tour of HMS Britannia with a very handsome young man really lifted my spirit to a higher place – I found the interior very comforting & relaxing – no wonder the Royal Family loved Britannia – they loved getting away from it all – I know the Queen shed a tear when the ship was decommissioned – you have made another very classy presentation – thank you Nicolas – much love.
Nicolas, this is wonderful. I remember visiting HMY back in the 1960s when it was visiting, I believe, San Francisco. (It may have been Hong Kong.) Somewhere in my photo collection I have a couple of pictures of some of the crew in a dinghy along side touching up the Royal Blue hull. Thank you for this one.
Hi Nicolas, this was a surprisingly wonderful article! You look fab, for sure, so classy. The ship would be a must to see if I ever make it over there. The decor was lovely, every room; what I’d do myself now. I enjoyed visiting with you on this one; thx for taking us. Your work is getting better and better, and you are a star of a person! Peace and love
Nicholas! THIS was a great Vlog! The Queen really had a hard time retiring Brittania – I remember seeing Chas & Diana on it for their Honeymoon, as well it made a Trip to Canada once where Diana & the boys met up. I know Chintz isn’t as popular these days but the Drawing Room Sofas evoke the Country House flair, so relaxed and inviting. Thanks for this Tour up close!
That was so lovely. Thank you so much for sharing your visit to the Britannia. I love the chintz couches and a fireplace as well. The dining room was so beautiful with all the tables set so exquisitely. Just to stand on the massive decks and imagine members of the royal family there . Did the Queen bring her beloved corgis on board as well I wonder?
Nicolas, thank you for sharing your tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia. I never saw images of the interior before. The interior is beautiful, yet much more humble and cozy than I had imagined, compared to the grandeur and elegance of Buckingham Palace. You never disappoint. I hope you can show us more beautiful places that are so close to your home in the UK. Your friendly and engaging personality makes your articles so inspirational. Wishing you all the best from New York City, Robert.
I have always been fascinated by “Britannia”. Some little known or commented on facts about the vessel and its history for me are that, there is only one “stateroom”(guest accommodation) on board, the so called “Honeymoon Suite”, with a double bed..! Neither The Queen nor Prince Philip opted for the comfort of a double bed. Four times the Royal Yacht was used for “royal honeymoons”, Princess Margaret to Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Anne to Captain Mark Philips, Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer and finally Prince Andrew to Sarah Ferguson. All these marriages ended in Divorce…!! When Her Majesty was on board for “State Visits”, there were Five “Admirals of The Fleet” on board, as “Bridge Officers”… FIVE…!! Just imagine the cost of their salaries alone..! “Britannia” was retired officially because she was deemed to be too old for continued service, being built in 1954, yet at least two other much older European Royal Yachts, “Norge”(Norway) and “Danneborg” (Denmark) both built in the 1930’s are still in current use. The real reason for “Britannia’s” retirement was that the vessel needed extensive and costly main6tenance which Her Majesty, worth several billon pounds, declined to contribute financially to, feeling no doubt that “free usage” of the vessel was a royal perk..! Remember too, that the second last voyage of “Britannia” was a private two week jaunt around “The Med.” for Prince Charles and the boys, “Princes William and Harry”. No matter how justified it was after the tragic death of their mother.
Hi Nicolas, do you happen to know if the upholstery used on the furniture on Britannia in the main sitting room is available to purchase? I love that floral print, but has thus far not been able to track anything down in the US. Please share any insight you might have. Thanks for all the great articles!
The Duke of Edinburgh design and decorated the ship. I think it really broke her heart, when the ship was decommissioned . The ship became the Queen and the Duke own personal home. The first home that was their own design.The ship offer her and Prince Phillip total privacy. The ship crew adored the Queen and Prince Phillip.
I managed to legally tour the Presidential plane for the President of Mexico, which, when not in use, is stored in Victorville, CA, for security purposes. It was a fascinating tour. I may not be able to watch for awhile, being deployed to Eastern Poland. Thank goodness I do speak Polish. We are goin’ to war, folks. Keep your fingers crossed that we all don’t go poof, soon. My 9th deployment since 1991, seems kinda unfair that this burden is not shared by all.
Seeing this reminds what a disgrace it was on PM Blair’s part to remove the ship from service. As the Duke of Edinburgh said there was only the need to sort the engines out and all would have been well. The UK has lost a magical part of the wonder that the UK, together with the Royal Family, had on world diplomacy. And we are stil fiddling with the possibility of a replacement but the inertia in effecting this is elephantine. Politics.
I feel truly sorry for that poor former Royal Yacht rating at the foot of the steps. Imagine being tarred and forced to stand with a smile on one’s face, welcoming every visitor, without hope of retirement! ‘Bet those sandwiches in the Drawing Room are stale, too. Another thing – didn’t Her Majesty and Prince Philip mind those internal windows? Any passing jack tar could see them fast asleep! Below decks, I see that the laundry used Bold – reflecting the boldness of the senior service, of course! I wonder, though, whether some of the crew might instead have used Fairy? You know what they used to say say about the Royal Navy … ‘rum, s*** and the lash’! (All in jest, by the way – before anyone complains about my lack of respect.)