Britannia: the floating castle that brought Isabel II to Lisbon and which is now a tourist destination – Mundo
The Royal Yacht Britannia, named after her, and of Scottish birth, traveled over a million nautical miles from her official launch in April 1953 until her well-deserved “renovation” in 1997. Since then she has been moored in the port of Leigh, in Edinburgh, and is one of the city’s most visited tourist attractions.
One of the most famous vessels in the world and a naval ambassador at the service of Her Majesty and the United Kingdom, not only the Queen and members of the royal family on official trips to various countries, inside and outside the Commonwealth – in total there were 968 State visits – , as it was also used in leisure, vacation and honeymoon trips, especially those of Carlos and Diana and André and Sarah Ferguson, who took the latter on a cruise to the Azores.
On board of personalities, businessman G and high dignitaries from all over the planet were among them names like Rajivandhi, Dwight Eisenhower, Winston Churchill, Ronald Reagan or Nelson Mandela. But also welcoming ordinary citizens when, in her capacity as a Royal Navy ship with no combat role, she was asked to evacuate British citizens and others at the outbreak of the civil war in South Yemen in 1986.
It was also on board the Britannia that Queen Isabel and Prince Filipe arrived in Lisbon, in February 1957, for an official visit that began at Cais das Colunas.
A crew of 20 officers and 220 sailors, “yotties” commanders handpicked by the different who served there, kept the ship operational and in all its splendor.
Luxury ship, but with a subtlety that disdains ostent and conveys an atmosphere of the world.
Here the queen had followed a daily schedule that normally started at 7:30 am, waking up with a cup of tea and milk, served by her personal maid; followed by a thermos at the right temperature, controlled by a meter, and lunch-lunch. And it ended when I returned to my room at 11:00 pm, unless some urgent matter required her attention late into the night.
In between, the family meals and, along with the correspondence, the expedient work on the documentation that reaches him daily from the various departments as well as correspondence.
But in addition to the routine on days of navigation, the ship had another well-oiled one: the magnificent receptions and state banquets where it hosted personalities from different geographies and with the refinement and protocol of a royal residence and a true floating palace. Despite the poor housing conditions for one crew, the cramped, quite facilities on the Britannia constituted an honor for those who applied and were selected.
Today, we can visit the Britannia and see what it was like to live in this palace of the seas. A Rolls-Royce used by the Queen on land is still there. We explored the different floors and imagined all the organization and meticulous hustle that all decoration to provide security and comfort to the royal family. Perhaps for this reason, surprising us with the simplicity of the chat rooms, the Queen’s and Edinburgh’s bedrooms, different in their decoration, but both remarkable for the absence of superfluous luxury.
Many of the delights once served on board are still made in your kitchen and can be enjoyed or enjoyed in the Royal Deck Tea Room (a 2009 addition). We can’t resist the warm and inviting aroma of the sweets emanating from the kitchen or let’s be some delicious bonbons…
But those with deep pockets can book this opportunity to have dinner (like Ursula Andress, the iconic “Bond girl”, who celebrated her 70th birthday here) and recreate a perfect gala dinner. The yacht is one of the most requested historic events for events in the country. And you don’t even have to worry about exaggerating the gifts. To stay overnight, there is a sister and neighbor trip, the Fingal floating hotel.
Just don’t trust the on-board clocks, all of which read 3:01, the time the Queen last disembarked before the Britannia’s final official UK voyage in 1997.