HMY Britannia

HMY Britannia was the 83rd royal yacht in the British tradition stretching back to the restoration of King Charles II in 1660, serving the royal family from 1954 until her decommissioning in 1997. During those four decades she sailed over one million nautical miles, hosting state visits, honeymoon voyages — including that of Charles and Diana — and diplomatic dinners with world leaders. When Britannia was retired, Queen Elizabeth II was visibly moved at the decommissioning ceremony, a rare public display of royal emotion. Now permanently moored in Leith harbour, Edinburgh, the ship is open as a museum where visitors walk through the original royal apartments, state dining rooms, and engine room — an unusually intimate window into the private world of the Windsor family.