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Fit for a Queen

THE 412-FOOT ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA

| BY SHARON WHITLEY LARSEN |

“This is the one place where I can truly relax.” Leith port. Via self-guided audio tours, some 300,000 annual
visitors get to see how royalty once lived at sea.
hus once stated Britain's Queen Elizabeth II about
her home on the high seas--the 412-foot Roy- The 83rd royal yacht since 1660, the Britannia was completed
al Yacht Britannia, which sailed over one million in April 1953 by John Brown's Clydebank Shipyard in Scotland
miles in 44 years--to over 600 ports in 135 coun- to replace the aging Victoria and Albert III, and had the ability
Ttries, on 968 official royal visits, with a crew of 276. 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
Since October 1998, the Britannia--one of the most famous
ships in the world, and which has been rated the UK's No. 1 vegetable rooms could hold enough supplies to feed the entire
Attraction for 2014-2015 by TripAdvisor--has been owned by ship for a month. Fresh bread was baked daily, and 100 chick-
the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust and berthed in Edinburgh's ens could be roasted at a time in the ship's two ovens.

40 Wine Dine & Travel 2016