WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 3 2016

Fit for a Queen
THE 412-FOOT ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA
| BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN |
“This is the one place where I can truly relax.”
Thus once stated Britain's Queen Elizabeth II about
her home on the high seas--the 412-foot Royal
Yacht Britannia, which sailed over one million
miles in 44 years--to over 600 ports in 135 countries,
on 968 official royal visits, with a crew of 276.
Since October 1998, the Britannia--one of the most famous
ships in the world, and which has been rated the UK's No. 1
Attraction for 2014-2015 by TripAdvisor--has been owned by
the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust and berthed in Edinburgh's
Leith port. Via self-guided audio tours, some 300,000 annual
visitors get to see how royalty once lived at sea.
The 83rd royal yacht since 1660, the Britannia was completed
in April 1953 by John Brown's Clydebank Shipyard in Scotland
to replace the aging Victoria and Albert III, and had the ability
to also function as a hospital ship, if needed. It could produce
its own fresh water from seawater, and a two-month supply of
meat and fish could be stored in the cold rooms. The dairy and
vegetable rooms could hold enough supplies to feed the entire
ship for a month. Fresh bread was baked daily, and 100 chickens
could be roasted at a time in the ship's two ovens.
40 Wine Dine & Travel 2016