Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Don't Miss
State Apartments
The queen travelled with 45 members of the royal household, five tons of luggage and a
Rolls-Royce that was squeezed into a specially built garage on the deck (it's still there).
The
State Drawing Room
, which once hosted royal receptions, is furnished with chintz
sofas bolted firmly to the floor, and a baby grand piano where Noel Coward once tickled
the ivories.
Royal Bedrooms
The private cabins of the queen and Prince Philip are surprisingly small and plain, with
ordinary 3ft-wide single beds (the only double bed on board is in the honeymoon suite,
used by Prince Charles and Lady Diana in 1981). The thermometer in the queen's bath-
room was used to make sure the water was the correct temperature, and when in harbour
one yachtsman was charged with ensuring that the angle of the gangway never exceeded
12 degrees.
On Deck
The decks (of Burmese teak) were scrubbed daily, but all work near the royal accommod-
ation was carried out in complete silence and had to be finished by 8am. Note the ma-
hogany windbreak that was added to the balcony deck in front of the bridge. It was put
there to stop wayward breezes from blowing up skirts and inadvertently revealing the roy-
al undies.
Bloodhound
Britannia was joined in 2010 by the 1930s racing yacht
Bloodhound,
which was owned by
the queen in the 1960s. She is moored alongside Britannia (except in July and August,
when she is away cruising) as part of an exhibition about the royal family's love of all
things nautical.
