She was the 83rd such vessel since King Charles II acceded to the throne in 1660, and is the second royal yacht to bear the name, the first being the racing cutter built for the Prince of Wales in 1893.

[2] Now retired from royal service, Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland, where it is a visitor attraction with over 300,000 visits each year.

Instead, the 16,907-gross-register-ton (47,880 m3) P&O liner SS Uganda, which was in the Mediterranean on an educational cruise with a thousand schoolchildren on board, was requisitioned, and modified to become a hospital ship.

In the event of nuclear war, it was intended for the Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to take refuge aboard Britannia off the north-west coast of Scotland.

She carried Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta in order for them to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the end of the royal couple's Commonwealth tour.

[8] On 20 July 1959, Britannia sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway en route from Canada to Chicago, where she docked, making the Queen the first British monarch to visit the city.

The yacht was a regular sight at Cowes Week in early August and, usually, for the remainder of the month, was home to the Queen and her family for an annual cruise around the islands off the west coast of Scotland (known as the "Western Isles Tour").

We in the Ministry of Defence have to justify every penny of the taxpayers' money that we spend and in this case I could not do so, particularly – as the Queen has made clear – since a Yacht is not needed for Royal travel.

We considered in detail all private finance options, but these would only have been viable with a substantial annual subsidy from public funds.The Royal Yacht's final foreign mission was to convey the last Governor of Hong Kong, Chris Patten, and the Prince of Wales back from Hong Kong after its handover to the People's Republic of China on 1 July 1997.

On 29 July 2011, a drinks reception was held on board Britannia for Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Zara Phillips and her then fiancé, Mike Tindall, to celebrate their forthcoming wedding.

[20] An early Land Rover in much-restored shape is displayed in the on-board garage and a retired Rolls-Royce Phantom V state car is parked on the wharf below the ship.

During July and August, she is berthed in Oban marina and is available for private charter, as she sails around the islands once visited by the Royal Family during their annual fortnight holiday in the Western Isles of Scotland.

The Fingal is a former Northern Lighthouse Board ship converted into a boutique hotel owned by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust.

[23] In May 2021, it was reported that Prime Minister Boris Johnson would announce the construction of a new royal yacht, named after Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, "within weeks".