The newlyweds will not be piped aboard the royal yacht Britannia — that mark of naval respect is normally accorded only to the Queen. But during the course of the two-week Mediterranean honeymoon cruise, Prince Charles and Lady Diana will be coddled and comforted by every other amenity that the glorious ship has to offer. A seagoing resort, the Britannia is outfitted with swimming pool, ballroom, chapel, theater, and a dining room that seats 40. There is a crack crew of 254 Royal Navy sailors (two-thirds of whom sign on for their entire service careers) and 22 officers, including a rear admiral at the helm. In deference to their royal — and romantic — passengers, orders on the upper deck will be executed whenever possible without spoken commands.
Launched in 1953 at John Brown and Co., Ltd., Clydebank, at a cost of $5.9 million, Britannia has spent more than her share of time in drydock and hot water. She has required eleven overhauls costing $56 million. Annual running operation now comes to $5.4 million, a sore point in Parliament. In 1976, Britannia was refused permission to sail into Montreal for the Summer Olympics until she made costly changes to her sanitary system, which Canadian officials believed would pollute the St. Lawrence River.
All such troubles will seem far behind, however, when she takes to the open water, her hull a glimmering swath of royal blue, red and gold, with the royal coat of arms on the bow and the royal cipher on the stern. The yacht’s 12,000-h.p. twin-shaft turbine engines are capable of propelling her 5,769 gross tonnage at a sprightly 21 knots. Her 510-ton fuel capacity can sustain a 2,800-mile voyage without stopover.
Should Charles and Diana feel the urge to strike out on their own for a short spin, Britannia carries her own miniflotilla. Included are a 40-ft. barge, two 35-ft. speedboats, a motor cutter, two 16-ft. fast-motor dinghies, two 14-ft. sailing dinghies and a number of lifeboats—one big enough to carry a Land Rover. The yacht’s sun deck can double as a landing pad for helicopters and her hold can carry two Rolls-Royces.
The living quarters feature the English country charm of the main drawing room, with its off-white walls, needlepoint rugs, and chairs covered in floral chintz. Scattered about are such remnants of the British Empire as a golden urn commemorating Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar and a set of shark’s teeth from the Solomon Islands. Folding doors separate the main drawing room from a comfortable anteroom, creating an open space about the length of a bowling alley.
Britannia’s royal suite has undergone one notable change since she last served the royal family for such a voyage. During their 1973 honeymoon cruise, Princess Anne and her husband, Captain Mark Phillips, had to request that the royal suite’s twin beds be lashed together.
For Charles and Diana, they have been discreetly replaced by a single Queen-size bed.
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