The Royal Britannia

In October... I went to Edinburgh, Scotland with my friend Theea.  Ok, yes this is a very delayed post but I've been meaning all along to say something about Scotland and I'll begin with the Royal Yacht Britannia.

This yacht has been in action travelling the world for 50+ years throughout Queen Elizabeth's reign and has been put to rest in a dock in Edinburgh as a tourist attraction. There have been royal honeymoons, summer holidays, state visits and foreign leaders across the globe have been aboard when the Queen docked at their shores. The last royal event happened last July when the Queen's granddaughter Zara hosted a pre-wedding reception on board and all the royals mixed and mingled on its deck and Duchess Kate apparently "recycled a dress" for the occasion. Scandalous.

Royals aboard the Britannia
 

Me standing where the Queen is!

These guys are obviously familiar with the Royal Yacht as well... Diana and Charles honeymooned on the ship and you can see the rooms where they stayed during the voyage.

Having visited palaces and castles in England such as Buckingham and Windsor over the years, I can say that its really not the same at all. In a palace, you don't get the sense of visiting someones home as you do on this yacht. There are family photos everywhere of the royals standing in the same place you're standing. The yacht was designed in a minimalist 1950s style. There is little fluff and every effort seems to have been made to make the furnishings much less pretentious than you might imagine they would be.

Aside from the fact that this is a ship that employed dozens of crew members to wait on the royal travelers and you can walk through the kitchen where a world class chef was employed, the laundry room where all the crew's uniforms are pressed to perfection...  The actual living quarters are simple and straight out of the '50s. Not much to them at all... the bedrooms consist of a dresser and a bed. There are basic nautical themed sitting rooms where Harry and William have played board games and the Queen's "office" is a simple desk. Of course, there is a more formal dining room and there have been many "posh" parties aboard. But what I liked most about seeing this ship is the teeny tiny sliver of normalcy you are able to peek in on.

Charles and Diana's Honeymoon Suite

I've read somewhere that the Queen's husband Prince Philip has never in his life put toothpaste on his own toothbrush. Apparently that task is reserved for his butler. So yes, "normal" and "royal" don't usually go together in the same sentence. But aboard the Britannia, the family photos unveil that they are just people in the end no matter how much scandal, heartache or loneliness those posed smiles are hiding.