She entered service with The Marine Society and Sea Cadets in 2015.

[4] The ship's hull is of high tensile steel, with her superstructure of glass reinforced plastic.

She is rigged as a brig,[5] with a sail area of 536 square metres (641 sq yd).

Royalist has a permanent crew of eight, plus up to 24 Cadets and 2 adult trainees.

Replacing the previous TS Royalist, she is designed to be easier to sail than her predecessor, and also faster.