catch geodude safari zone heartgold

Object Arrangement

As mentioned before, the objects that Baoba give you may draw out certain Pokemon not normally found in a particular area. An object can draw out Plains Pokemon, Forest Pokemon, Rocky area Pokemon and Water-side Pokemon, or none of the aforementioned, in which case it is there for asthetic purposes only. Rarer Pokemon will start appearing if you place enough objects that meet the requirement for that area; examples of requirements could be 3 Plains objects or 7 Water objects.

Each area keeps a counter of the number of days it has been used. Over time, the objects in a particular area will upgrade in effectiveness towards the requirement. This means that instead of counting as one object, it can count as multiple objects - thus the area requirement is more easily achievable.

For example, if the Savannah Area has been in use for 27 days, then a Plains object placed there will count as 2 Plains objects, a Forest object will count as 2 Forest objects but a Rock object will count as 1 Rock object.

The following is a list of all the objects available.

Diehard GameFAN

Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver – Safari Zone Strategy Guide

In the original Pokemon Gold, Silver and Crystal , when your Trainer traveled to Kanto you found that the Safari Zone had moved out of Fuchsia City. This meant no Safari Zone Pokemon for your character. In Pokemon Heart Gold and Soul Silver , the Safari Zone is back… just in a brand new location. It’s the biggest and most complex Safari Zone to date, so let’s take a look at what all you’ll have to go through to catch ’em all.

First of all, the basic premise has stayed the same – you are given thirty Safari Balls and you have a limited number of steps to catch Pokemon with. Your play ends when you run out of either steps or Safari Balls. This new Safari Zone is a lot more Trainer friendly however. Remember in the old games where you’d have to waste half your steps just to get to an area where you could hopefully find a Chansey? Well, now the Safari Zone is customizable. By using your DS stylus and the touch pad, you can move around the order of the six Safari Zones. This means if all you need to complete the Pokedex is say, a Smeargle, you can set it up so that the Field area of the Safari Zone is right at the entrance, giving you a better chance of catching it. Each of the six zones features distinctly different Pokemon, so you’ll have to visit them all eventually.

The Safari Zone Warden will also have tasks he will assign to you. The first is to get him a Geodude. In return, he’ll activate the customization ability mentioned in the previous paragraph. After that, he will ask you for a Sandshrew. Once you bring him one he’ll activate a new level of customization. This will involve special items that can attract Pokemon that would otherwise not appear in the Safari Zone. Each of these special Pokemon will require a set number of items to be laid down in the Safari Zone in the area they would show up in. Now you can only have 30 items out at a time, and some Pokemon like, say, Carnivine require 25 Grassland item to be laid out in the Desert area. That leaves you only five items to place elsewhere in the zone. The good thing is that the longer you leave these items out, the more experience those items will get, and they will level up like a Pokemon. These items will eventually be worth up to seven times their original value (based on how long you leave them out for), so things will get easier to catch all the Pokemon possible in the Safari Zone. Some rarely occurring Pokemon will not only requires items to be set out, but will also require those items to sit in the area for a length of time before they appear. Remember Carnivine in our item example? Well you’ll also have to leave those items in the Desert for ten straight days before he’ll begin to appear. Because of this, you might want to consider looking for Carnivine in the Marshlands where he requires only 18 points of items, but he will then take 20 days to appear. It’s up to you.

Here now is an easy to read table of each Pokemon and the requirements you’ll need to make them appear within the Safari Zone.

Alex Lucard

30 responses to “Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver – Safari Zone Strategy Guide”

Where can you find a ghastly or a Haunter?

Where can you catch a ghastly/Haunter here?

Sprout Tower at night.

i was thinking…you know that u have 2 wait a certain amout of days for sum pokemon 2 appear…can u jus like change the date on your DS so that it makes the game think that say 20days have gone past??? any one know?

@brendan, no i don’t think it will work like that, if you change the date on your ds it takes at least 24 hours in order for anything time related to happen, as far as changing it 20 days and than waiting 24 hours i’m not sure but personally i wouldn’t waste my time trying

@Brendan, might work, changing the time from 1pm to 1am makes it night so I don’t see why not. Worth a try, it takes 2 mins to do. it’s a stupid thing to put in a game anyway, the majority of people beat the elite 4 in less than 2 weeks, then they’re done with the game, not going to sit around for 110 days for some shit pokemon to appear.

no you cant change the date but if you forward your clock to 23.29 and wait a minute then save then repete for an extra day each time thats how i got riolu

Is there anyway you can tell if you have made the rarer pokemon appear??

@Shadow Shaymin – Why 23.29, and not 23.59? I’m gonna try what you recommend.

need help to find dragon type pokemon realy strong to beat 9 gym

There is no ninth gym. There are two sets of eight.

@Shaymin: Are you just BSing? I’ve tried the same approach for bagon and then shelgon and both times was unable to catch one.

I should add that the time to set the clock to (and the time that I used) is 23:59

the date changes work for me in the safari zone as do they for the bug catching contest(tho i dont recomend jumping ahead because it records the days you do the contest i would only do that for days you missed)

on another note the the best way to get any pokemon is to have the other versions. thats how i did it i legitimantly have seen caught and curently own every pokemon in all ther evolved forms thats the best thing i can recomind because yes the waiting is bs when i can just do in 5 min on another vesion and trade over what its making me do in like 100+ days

Now if it says have 18 rocky items, do you have to have exactly 18 items or can you just wait till it counts as 18 rocky items?

@Luke, not everyone has 2 DS’s to trade the stuff over. I have 100% pokedex in diamond, but there’s not much I can do about it with one ds.

how dow you get safrizone items

thanks so so much for the floatzel cheat it really helped!!!

thnxxxxxxxxxxxx so much now i have flotzel thank you loads !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF I NEED a shelgon so i can pwn the world! help me please???

OMG I CAUGHT IT USING MY LAST SAFARI BALL! YESSSSS!!! now to save the game…

AND NOW TO BLAST BURN IT WITH CHARIZARD IN FRONT OF TWO CHILDREN ON ROUTE 14……….

THAT’LL TEACH YOU NOT TO BE SO HARD TO CATCH!!

i need a garchomp i will trade you a lv 70 mewtwo

look for the name black

I know, there are 6 areas I see, but why are there more places :S

I’m confused about the itemssss thing??

How can I get a bagon its so hard I already placed the items down and waited 120 days and it still did not show up

this always works bait mud bait mud ball mud ball mud ball mud ball mud… works evey time and if it flees its just not worthy to be in your party and a little secret your DS goes off of the time on it so dont wait months just change the date

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Appendix : HeartGold and SoulSilver walkthrough/Section 16

• 1.1.1 Battle 1
• 1.1.2 Battle 2
• 1.1.3 Battle 3
• 1.1.4 Battle 4
• 1.2 Champion
• 1.3 Hall of Fame

Indigo Plateau

The Indigo Plateau serves as the capital for the Pokémon League in the Johto and Kanto regions. This is where the Trainers who have defeated all eight Gym Leaders in either region battle against the Elite Four and the Champion . The entrance hall's lower level holds a Pokémon Center and a Poké Mart, allowing challengers to prepare themselves and their Pokémon for the gauntlet ahead. The Pokémon Wireless Club Union Room and the Pokémon Communication Club Colosseum are located on the middle level. The Elite Four is a group of talented Pokémon Trainers second only to the Champion in terms of power, and must be fought in succession with no break. These five battles will not be easy, but challengers who bring their strongest Pokémon and a healthy supply of Potions and Revives may finally find themselves in the Hall of Fame .

The first member of the Elite Four is Will , a master of Psychic-type Pokémon. Psychic-type moves are super effective against Fighting - and Poison-type Pokémon, while Psychic-type Pokémon are weak to Bug -, Dark -, and Ghost-type moves.

Both of Will's Xatu can use Confuse Ray to harass their target. In addition to Ghost- and Dark-type moves, they both sustain serious damage from Electric-type attacks, as does his Slowbro . Its Amnesia move raises its Special Defense , so use physical moves to target its physical Defense, instead. Bug and Fire attacks work well against both Exeggutor and Jynx .

Defeating Will opens the door to the second room.

The second member of the Elite Four is Koga , a master of Poison-type Pokémon, and former Gym Leader from Kanto 's Fuchsia City . Poison-type moves are super effective against Grass-type Pokémon, while Poison-type Pokémon are weak to Ground - and Psychic-type moves.

As Koga is a master ninja, his team makes use of poisoning and confusion to wear down their target. Psychic-type attacks will be the most useful, as they deal serious damage to four of his five Pokémon. Rock moves are useful against his Ariados , Venomoth , and Crobat , and all three of his Bug Pokémon are also vulnerable to Fire attacks. Watch out for Forretress ' Explosion , and be sure to bring healing items to cure any Pokémon suffering from the effects of poison.

Defeating Koga opens the door to the third room.

The third member of the Elite Four is Bruno , a master of Fighting-type Pokémon. Fighting-type moves are super effective against Dark -, Ice -, Normal -, Rock -, and Steel-type Pokémon, while Fighting-type Pokémon are weak to Flying - and Psychic-type moves.

Psychic-type attacks will do well against four of Bruno 's five Pokémon. Flying-type attacks are equally useful, but Machamp can fight back against Flying Pokémon with Rock Slide . Hitmonchan can do the same with Ice Punch and ThunderPunch . As a Rock / Ground Pokémon, not only is Onix the only one of Bruno's team that is not Fighting type, but it is also the only one to sustain massive damage from both Water - and Grass-type attacks.

Defeating Bruno opens the door to the fourth room.

The fourth member of the Elite Four is Karen , a master of Dark-type Pokémon. Dark-type moves are super effective against Ghost - and Psychic-type Pokémon, while Dark-type Pokémon are weak to Bug - and Fighting-type moves.

With its high defenses and status moves to hinder its target, Umbreon can be difficult to take down. If its Speed is low enough to move second, Payback 's power is doubled. Ice-type moves are effective against Vileplume and Murkrow , while Murkrow and Houndoom also take serious damage from Rock attacks. Use Ghost - and Dark-type moves against Gengar , but avoid using Dark Pokémon as it can retaliate with Focus Blast .

With the Elite Four defeated, the door to the Champion's room is unlocked. Only one person stands between you and the title of Champion!

The final opponent turns out to be Lance , the same Dragon Pokémon master who helped defeat Team Rocket . Dragon-type moves are super effective against Dragon-type Pokémon, while Dragon-type Pokémon are weak to Dragon- and Ice-type moves.

Lance begins with his Gyarados , which takes massive damage from Electric-type attacks. Charizard has the same problem with Rock moves, while both it and Aerodactyl take serious damage from Water attacks. His three Dragonite each have a powerful move— Thunder , Blizzard , and Fire Blast —to help cover the team's vulnerabilities. However, as Dragon / Flying Pokémon, they fare poorly in the cold and sustain massive damage from Ice-type attacks. All of his Dragonite can use Hyper Beam , so be sure to bring plenty of HP -restoring items!

Lance congratulates you for defeating the Pokémon League, and compliments you on growing so much with your Pokémon. He is soon interrupted by DJ Mary , who rushes in for an interview. She would have been here sooner, but Professor Oak is not as quick as he was in his younger days. He applauds your victory, saying that your Pokémon won because they believed in you as a Trainer. Mary tries again for an interview, but Lance steps in and leads you to the next room.

Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame is where all victorious Trainers and their dedicated Pokémon will be recorded, as a testament to their power and perseverance. Lance remarks that it has been a long time sine he was last here, and goes on to explain the large machine. He then activates it, officially recording both you and your Pokémon as the latest inductees into the Hall of Fame.

The game is saved, a slideshow of your victorious Pokémon plays, and the credits roll.

• HeartGold and SoulSilver walkthrough

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How do you get a geodude in safari zone on Pokemon HeartGold?

go indoors at the safari zone go straight ahead and talk to the person and pay £500 (catch you geodude) :})

Add your answer:

When is the best time to catch geodude in front of the safari zone on Pokemon heartgold?

They're common, so anytime.

Where can you find a aaron in Pokemon HeartGold?

safari zone rocky beach area

What do you need in the safari zone forest to get a growlithe in Pokemon soul silver?

Growlithe cannot be found in Pokemon SoulSilver, not even in the Safari Zone. It can only be found in HeartGold.

Where is the safari zone on Pokemon SoulSilver?

In Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the safari zone is in Johto, past Cianwood City, past Routes 46 and 47.

WHO is baboa in HeartGold safari zone?

Baboa is the owner of the safari zone.

Can you catch geodude in HeartGold?

Yes. You can get geodude by smashing boulders, in caves, or the safari zone.

How do you get zangoose in Pokemon HeartGold?

The way you can get zangoose in Pokemon heartgold is in the safari zone.

Where can you get a lavitar on Pokemon HeartGold?

safari zone

Where do you get trapinch in Pokemon heartgold?

In the Safari Zone.

Where to get a Roselia in Pokemon HeartGold?

The Safari Zone.

How do you get cacnea in Pokemon HeartGold?

you can get it at the safari zone.

Where can you catch a LARVITAR in pokemon heartgold?

In HeartGold you can find Larvitar on Mt. Silver or in the Safari Zone (in the 'Mountain' area).Safari Zone

How do you get safari balls in Pokemon HeartGold?

You get safari balls after you enter in safari zone and just in there.

How do you get sol rock in Pokemon HeartGold?

They are in the Safari Zone

How do you get Maril in Pokemon HeartGold?

You can find them in the safari zone.

Pokemon HeartGold how to get rhydon?

Catch it in the safari zone.

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Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver - Safari Zone Guide

royal yacht britannia scandal

Where is the royal yacht britannia and why was it decommissioned.

Queen Elizabeth’s farewell to the Royal Yacht in 1997 was one of the only occasions in her 70-year-reign that Her Majesty publicly shed a tear.

Almost 25 years ago, HMY Britannia left Portsmouth for a farewell tour around the UK . It went to six major ports across the UK, including Glasgow.

Why was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned and where is it today?

Why was it decommissioned?

The Royal Yacht was decommissioned in 1994 by John Major’s Government because “the costs were too great”, according to the official website.

The decision was made after the Royal Yacht was used for a long and successful journey spanning 44 years and travelling more than one million miles across the globe.

The issue of a new royal yacht became a political issue in the run-up to the 1997 General Election, when the new Labour Government came into power.

After the election, Tony Blair’s Government confirmed in October 1997 there would be no replacement for Britannia.

It marked the end of a long tradition of British royal yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II.

Where is the HMY Britannia?

Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland .

Today, the Royal yacht is open to curious visitors and welcomes more than 300,000 visits each year.

Britannia was launched in 1953 from the John Brown and Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland .

Its purpose was to serve the Royal Family and it was the first to be built with complete ocean-going capacity, designed as a royal residence to entertain guests around the world.

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For more than 44 years, it travelled more than one million miles with Her Majesty for state visits, official receptions, royal honeymoons, and relaxing family holidays.

Britannia quickly became one of the most famous ships in the world and now stands as a majestic symbol of Great Britain.

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What Happened to the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The Crown season five begins and ends with the same plot point: The Royal Yacht Britannia. The vessel serves as a—fairly obvious—metaphor in the first episode, where Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth describes it as “a floating, seagoing version of me.” The problem with her metaphorical marine self? It’s in desperate need of multi-million dollar repairs. 

She asks British prime minister John Major, played by Jonny Lee Miller, whether the government might be able to help foot the bill. He, in turn, asks if the royal family might front the cost, given the public pushback they both might receive if such a seemingly extravagant project was approved. In the final episode of the season (a note to the reader: spoilers will follow), Tony Blair and Queen Elizabeth agree to decommission the yacht after Prince Charles’s trip to Hong Kong.

The Crown is known for taking much of its plot material from real-life events. In the case of the Royal Yacht Britannia, though—what really happened to the boat, and how much political controversy did it really cause?

To go back to the beginning, King George VI first commissioned the royal yacht that would become the Britannia in 1952. It was an exciting project, as the previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria, and was rarely used. (Queen Victoria, for one, did not like the water and never sailed.) Then, during the early 20th century, England was mostly at war, and making a massive, slow-sailing luxury ship would be a massive security risk in international waters. 

The Royal Yacht Britannia, George decided, should both be an extravagant vessel and a functional one, able to double as a hospital if times of war were to arise again. In 1953, the newly-crowned Queen Elizabeth christened the ship with a bottle of wine, as champagne was still seen as too extravagant post-war. In 1954, she set sail for the first time.

The Royal Yacht fulfilled many functions, most of them leisurely. Over the years, the boat hosted four royal honeymoons, including that of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, as well as many family vacations. In 1969, after his investiture as the Prince of Wales, Charles hosted an intimate party on board to celebrate. (Newspapers at the time wrote that he danced with his dear friend Lucia Santa Cruz —the very person who eventually introduced him to Camilla Parker Bowles.)

It also served as a grandiose mode of transport for many royal visits. In 1959, for example, Britannia sailed to Chicago to celebrate the recently-opened St. Lawrence seaway in Canada, and President Eisenhower joined her on board. Twenty years later, she sailed to Abu Dhabi for her first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, where she held a grand dinner for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

And although Queen Elizabeth's reign was not during wartime, the royal yacht did execute a humanitarian mission, as King George VI had always planned for: In 1986, it sailed to Aden to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Yemen.

The New York Times once described the 412-foot Britannia as “an ordinary yacht what Buckingham Palace is to the house next door.” It wasn’t an exaggeration—Britannia was essentially a floating palace. It had a drawing room, a dining room, two sitting rooms, as well as galleys and cabins for all the officers. The stateroom interiors were just as ornate as any other royal estate, while the bedrooms—which all had their own bathrooms and dressing rooms—were designed to feel surprisingly personal. 

“Within the royal apartments, however, the regal elegance gives way to the homey, patched elbow chic of an English country house, with flowered chintz slipcovers, family photographs, and rattan settees, interspersed with the occasional relic of Empire—shark's teeth from the Solomon Islands here, a golden urn commemorating Nelson's victory at Trafalgar there,” the New York Times found when it boarded the ship in 1976.

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. Politicians raised questions about its financial value as far back as 1954, when two MPs lobbied for an investigation on why the yacht’s refurbishment would cost 5.8 million pounds, accusing the royal family of waste and extravagance. A government committee later dismissed the accusations. In 1994, the Conservative government ruled the yacht too costly to refurbish, when repairs came in at a whopping 17 million, but then briefly walked back on their decision a few years later. 

However, when Tony Blair’s Labour government won the election, and the new government once again declined to pay for Britannia. Britannia’s final journey was to far-flung Hong Kong in 1997, as Prince Charles turned over the British colony back to the Chinese at the end of Britain's 99-year lease. When they finally decommissioned the boat that summer, the queen cried—one of the few times she’s shown emotion in public. The boat had logged over one million nautical miles.

Today, Britannia sits permanently docked in Edinburgh. Visitors can take tours of its grand galleys, or even rent it out for events. Yet, despite its retirement, the concept of the royal yacht lives on: In 2021, Boris Johnson floated the idea of a new boat. However, a mere eight days ago, Rishi Sunak has scrapped the project—showing that, even now, the concept remains a controversial one.

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A Sombre Farewell

On 23 June 1994, John Major's Government announced there would be no refit for HMY Britannia as the costs would be too great. After a long and successful career spanning 44 years and travelling over 1 million miles around the globe, it was announced that the last Royal Yacht was to be decommissioned.

There was no immediate decision about a replacement, but the question of a new Royal Yacht became a political issue in the run up to the 1997 General Election. After the election, the new Labour Government eventually confirmed in October 1997 there would be no replacement for Britannia . 

Final Voyage

On 20 October 1997, HMY Britannia left Portsmouth on her farewell tour around the UK. This was a clockwise circumnavigation of Britain, calling at six major ports, including Glasgow. As she sailed past John Brown's Shipyard, she gave a blast on her sirens, in fond farewell to the yard which had proudly built her.

Day of Decommissioning

It was a sad day when the Royal Family finally bid farewell to a ship that had so faithfully served her family and her country for over forty years. All the clocks on Britannia were stopped at 15:01, the time Queen Elizabeth II was piped ashore for the last time. This was one of the few occasions Queen Elizabeth II publicly shed a tear as The Band of HM Royal Marines played the highly emotive 'Highland Cathedral.'

Visiting Britannia

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Get away from the everyday aboard Britannia’s sister ship, Fingal.  Extend your visit with a stay in one of Fingal’s luxurious cabins, your own oasis by the sea. 

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What Happened To The Royal Yacht Britannia After It Was Decommissioned?

The event was one of the extremely rare displays of emotions from the queen.

If you’ve binged season five of The Crown , then you’ll be familiar with the Royal Yacht Britannia . As dramatized in the series, Queen Elizabeth’s beloved yacht was decommissioned in 1997. However, that wasn’t the end of the famous seacraft’s story. Here’s where the Royal Yacht Britannia is today.

The Britannia Began Sailing In 1954

Originally commissioned for her father, King George VI, Queen Elizabeth oversaw the construction of the Royal Yacht Britannia . She and Prince Philip advised the ship’s design, offering input on the furnishings of each room. Philip later said in a 1995 documentary about the yacht that this is what made the seacraft so special to him and Elizabeth.

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“I suppose Britannia was rather special as far as we were concerned because we were involved from the very beginning in organizing the design and furnishing and equipping and hanging the pictures and everything else,” he explained. “For us it was rather special because all the other places we live in have been built by our predecessors. They started building Windsor 1,000 years ago, and they built Balmoral 100 years ago, and they built Sandringham 70 or 90 years ago. So we, in a sense, had our own.”

Queen Elizabeth and her family took countless trips on the yacht. The queen even stated that the yacht was the one place she could truly relax, though it did far more than that. The craft was used to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from Yemen in 1981. It’s been used to greet presidents and take royals on their honeymoons. Prince Charles and Princess Diana took their own honeymoon cruise on the yacht before it was decommissioned on December 11, 1997.

The Royal Yacht Britannia Is Now A Museum

After it was decommissioned in 1997, the ship became part of the National Historic Fleet and was moored in the historic Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. The ship is now maintained by the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust, a registered non-profit, and it serves as a museum . There was certainly a strong effort within the British government to greenlight plans for a new royal yacht, although the extravagance of such a move proved unattractive for both politicians and the royal family.

Tourists can now board the famous ship, peek inside its many rooms, and even have a meal in the Royal Deck Tea Room. The ship has been preserved to appear the same as it did when it was sailing. All of the clocks onboard were even stopped at 3:01 p.m., the exact time Queen Elizabeth last departed the ship. However, the yacht hasn’t lost its royal connection entirely. It is still rented out periodically for special events. Notably, Zara Tindall held a cocktail reception on the yacht the night before her wedding to Mike Tindall.

Last year, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced plans to construct another royal yacht . However, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak recently announced that the £250 million plan was trashed . Given the gigantic cost of such an endeavor, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see another royal yacht sail the English Channel.

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What really happened to Royal Yacht Britannia from ‘The Crown’ Season 5?

LONDON — The much-hyped fifth season of “The Crown” opens with a heavy-handed metaphor weighing approximately 4,000 tons.

It’s 1953, and a young Queen Elizabeth II, a month before her coronation, is in Scotland to launch the new royal yacht, the Britannia. “I hope this brand-new vessel, like your brand-new queen, will prove to be dependable and constant, capable of weathering any storm,” she declares to great applause.

And so the queen and her ship are inextricably linked as the Netflix TV show fast-forwards to 1991, when questions about costly repairs for the Britannia are presented in parallel to questions about whether the 65-year-old queen is too old for her role.

King Charles III wants to look ahead. ‘The Crown’ drags him back.

There is no missing that this is a narrative device in a series now labeled a “fictional dramatization.” But the episode’s release this week has renewed interest in the history of the royal yacht and ignited a debate about how the British monarch interacted with her government. It also happened to coincide with a modern-day echo of 1991, as new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, facing a recession, sank plans for a replacement royal yacht.

What to know about Britannia, ‘the floating palace’

There is a real Royal Yacht Britannia, and, as in the show, the young queen really did announce its name and christen it with a bottle of Empire wine. (Though not with a self-referential speech.)

The Britannia was the latest in a series of royal yachts dating back to 1660 and King Charles II . In 44 years of service, the ship sailed more than 1 million nautical miles — equivalent to more than 40 circumnavigations of Earth — calling at more than 600 ports in 135 countries and projecting British influence around the world.

The Britannia was used for state visits and receptions, royal family holidays and honeymoons. Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton all spent time on board, as did Boris Yeltsin and Nelson Mandela. When civil war broke out in South Yemen in 1986, the yacht was rerouted to help evacuate civilians.

“The Crown” suggests the yacht was the queen’s favorite “home,” cherished even more than Balmoral in the Scottish highlands. Biographers don’t dispute that this could have been true. In his book “Queen of Our Times,” Robert Hardman writes, “There were few places where the Queen would be happier.”

Although served by a crew of 220, the ship was a place where the royal family could relax and escape the watchful eye of the public. Hugh Casson, who designed the interior, once recounted, “the overall idea was to give the impression of a country house at sea.” Prince Philip, the queen’s husband, was fascinated with the birds he saw during voyages in the 1950s and even published a book titled “Birds from Britannia.”

Did the queen lobby for repairs?

The controversial part of “The Crown” portrayal centers on whether the queen actively lobbied Prime Minister John Major for the government to pay for extensive repairs — which could have amounted to inappropriate interference in politics by a constitutional monarch.

She says in the show: “Here I am, coming to you, prime minister, on bended knee, for the sign-off, but I’m hoping that will be a formality.”

The character of Major, who was prime minister during a tough recession, responds by suggesting the royal yacht is “something of a luxury” and that spending public money on it while the economy is in the tank would not be good for the government or the royal family.

The queen persists, arguing that the yacht is “a central and indispensable part of the way the crown serves the nation” and “a floating, seagoing expression of me.”

The queen-ship metaphor is dragged out in a later conversation, when the character of Prince Charles — impatient to be king — tells Major about the Britannia: “Sometimes these old things are too costly to keep repairing.”

So did any of that actually take place?

The real-life Major has called the show’s imagined conversations “a barrel-load of nonsense.”

Robert Lacey, a historical consultant on “The Crown,” defended the depiction. He told The Washington Post that the subject of the yacht would have inevitably come up between the queen and the prime minister, who met once a week to discuss matters of state.

“She certainly spoke about it to the prime minister,” Lacey said. “Obviously, the royal family would have lobbied for it. The queen did want another royal yacht.”

Hardman, the royal biographer, insisted that while the queen no doubt would have been interested in repairs or a replacement, she would not have “leaned on her prime ministers for money.”

In a letter written in 1994, later stored in the National Archives, the queen’s deputy private secretary Kenneth Scott wrote to the cabinet office that “the Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st century the kind of service which Britannia has provided for the last 43 years.”

Scott noted, however, that “the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the government” and “the last thing I should like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht.’”

The Times of London headline when the letter was uncovered in 2018: “ I want a new yacht, Queen told Whitehall in secret letter .”

What happened to the Britannia?

Major’s government wasn’t swayed by arguments to repair or renew the ship. Even with a retrofit costing an estimated 17 million pounds, the Britannia would be expensive to run and hard to maintain. It was hard to justify when air travel was a readily available alternative for royal trips and trade missions.

The yacht’s final voyage abroad was to Hong Kong in 1997, when the territory was handed back to China. A few months later, the Britannia undertook a farewell tour of Britain, calling at six major ports and blasting its sirens as it passed the shipyard that built it, before returning for a decommissioning ceremony in Portsmouth, England on Dec. 11, 1997. The ship’s clocks were stopped. The Royal Marines band played. Lacey noted: “The only time the queen was seen to cry was when the royal yacht was de-commissioned.”

The ship is now a visitor attraction site in Edinburgh, Scotland. On the day of the queen’s state funeral in September, a lone piper played a lament on the deck.

What about plans for a replacement royal yacht?

The possibility of a replacement yacht gained some traction during the 1997 general election, but the incoming Labour government nixed the idea.

More than two decades later, as part of a campaign to promote a reinvigorated “Global Britain” in the aftermath of Brexit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson proposed a new royal yacht . There was a push to name the ship after Prince Philip, who died last year, though it would be more for the government than for the royal family. In Johnson’s vision, the ship would tour the world as a “floating embassy,” where officials would host summits and cement trade deals. It would cost an estimated 250 million pounds to build, plus 30 million pounds a year to run.

But once again, the economic climate is not favorable for big yacht projects. The new Sunak administration announced this week that it was terminating the royal yacht plan and would instead procure a surveillance ship that could protect energy cables and other infrastructure. The prime minister’s spokesman said it was “right to prioritize at a time when difficult spending decisions need to be made.”

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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned? Where it is moored now and the history of the ship

The yacht is now a permanent visitor attraction in port leith, edinburgh.

Season five of The Crown starts in 1991 with the fictional Queen all-but-demanding a new Royal Yacht from then-Prime Minister John Major.

The luxurious yacht was a mainstay for Elizabeth II and Prince Philip , and comfortably carried the royals and dignitaries across the globe between 1953 and 1997.

King Charles II first launched the idea that a personal boat was essential for a ruling monarch, and by the time Elizabeth II acceded to the throne the Royal Yacht had evolved into a vessel of opulence, designed for long journeys and luxurious holiday cruises.

The Royal Yacht Britannia had spacious cabins, an onboard car garage, sun lounge, drawing room, plush bedrooms and amenities for 220 crewmembers (including several bars and pubs).

What happened to the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The first episode of the new season of The Crown shows the Queen lobbying for a new boat to replace the out-dated Royal Yacht Britannia. However, the replacement vessel never came to fruition.

In 2018, The Times reported that the Queen had “secretly lobbied Whitehall” in 1995, when senior Buckingham Palace official, Sir Kenneth Scott, wrote to the Cabinet Office saying that the Queen would “very much welcome” a replacement for the Royal Yacht Britannia.

The letter, found in the National Archive, said: “I have deliberately taken a back seat in recent correspondence, since the question of whether there should be a replacement yacht is very much one for the Government and since the last thing I would like to see is a newspaper headline saying ‘Queen Demands New Yacht’.

“At the same time I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the palace in no way implies that Her Majesty is not deeply interested in the subject; on the contrary, the Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st Century the kind of service which Britannia has provided for the last 43 years.”

The Queen was later photographed crying as the boat moored in Portsmouth after its final journey.

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When was the Royal Yacht Britannia decommissioned?

Despite the monarch’s love of the yacht, Britannia was decommissioned in 1997 after Tony Blair was voted into power.

However, Boris Johnson imagined a new Royal Yacht to replace Britannia . The project was later scrapped – making it the fourth plan of his to have been axed at a total cost of more than £51m to the British taxpayer.

Rishi Sunak abandoned plans for the flagship, which would have been used to drive trade deals in the post-Brexit Britain , as he embarked on an agenda of cutting spending in the Autumn Statement .

Building the ship, which was set to launch by the end of 2024, would have cost in the region of £250m.

Where is the Royal Yacht Britannia now?

The yacht is now a permanent attraction in Port Leith, Edinburgh, and welcomes up to 300,000 visitors a year.

There was controversy over the siting of the ship, with some arguing that it would be better moored on the River Clyde, where it was built, than in Edinburgh. However, the ship’s positioning in Leith coincided with a redevelopment of the harbour area, and the advent of Scottish devolution.

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What Happened To The Royal Yacht Britannia?

The Crown season five begins and ends with the same plot point: The Royal Yacht Britannia. The vessel serves as a – fairly obvious – metaphor in the first episode, where Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth describes it as “a floating, seagoing version of me.” The problem with her metaphorical marine self? It’s in desperate need of multi-million pound repairs. 

The Crown is known for taking much of its plot material from real-life events. In the case of the Royal Yacht Britannia, though – what really happened to the boat, and how much political controversy did it really cause?

To go back to the beginning, King George VI first commissioned the royal yacht that would become the Britannia in 1952. It was an exciting project, as the previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria, and was rarely used. Then, during the early 20th century, England was mostly at war, and making a massive, slow-sailing luxury ship would be a massive security risk in international waters. 

The Royal Yacht Britannia, George decided, should both be an extravagant vessel and a functional one, able to double as a hospital if times of war were to arise again. In 1953, the newly crowned Queen Elizabeth christened the ship with a bottle of wine, as champagne was still seen as too extravagant post-war. In 1954, she set sail for the first time.

The Royal Yacht fulfilled many functions, most of them leisurely. Over the years, the boat hosted four royal honeymoons, including that of Princess Diana and Prince Charles, as well as many family vacations. In 1969, after his investiture as the Prince of Wales, Charles hosted an intimate party on board to celebrate. (Newspapers at the time wrote that he danced with his dear friend Lucia Santa Cruz – the very person who eventually introduced him to Camilla Parker Bowles.)

It also served as a grandiose mode of transport for many royal visits. In 1959, for example, Britannia sailed to Chicago to celebrate the recently opened St Lawrence seaway in Canada, and President Eisenhower joined her on board. Twenty years later, she sailed to Abu Dhabi for her first official visit to the United Arab Emirates, where she held a grand dinner for Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

The New York Times once described the 412-foot Britannia as “an ordinary yacht what Buckingham Palace is to the house next door.” It wasn’t an exaggeration – Britannia was essentially a floating palace. It had a drawing room, a dining room, two sitting rooms, as well as galleys and cabins for all the officers. The stateroom interiors were just as ornate as any other royal estate, while the bedrooms – which all had their own bathrooms and dressing rooms – were designed to feel surprisingly personal. 

“Within the royal apartments, however, the regal elegance gives way to the homey, patched elbow chic of an English country house, with flowered chintz slipcovers, family photographs, and rattan settees, interspersed with the occasional relic of Empire – shark’s teeth from the Solomon Islands here, a golden urn commemorating Nelson’s victory at Trafalgar there,” the New York Times found when it boarded the ship in 1976.

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. Politicians raised questions about its financial value as far back as 1954, when two MPs lobbied for an investigation on why the yacht’s refurbishment would cost £5.8 million, accusing the royal family of waste and extravagance. A government committee later dismissed the accusations. In 1994, the Conservative government ruled the yacht too costly to refurbish, when repairs came in at a whopping 17 million, but then briefly walked back on their decision a few years later. 

However, when Tony Blair’s Labour government won the election, and the new government once again declined to pay for Britannia. Britannia’s final journey was to far-flung Hong Kong in 1997, as Prince Charles turned over the British colony back to the Chinese at the end of Britain’s 99-year lease. When they finally decommissioned the boat that summer, the queen cried – one of the few times she’s shown emotion in public. The boat had logged over one million nautical miles.

Today, Britannia sits permanently docked in Edinburgh. Visitors can take tours of its grand galleys, or even rent it out for events. Yet, despite its retirement, the concept of the royal yacht lives on: In 2021, Boris Johnson floated the idea of a new boat. However, a mere eight days ago, Rishi Sunak has scrapped the project – showing that, even now, the concept remains a controversial one.

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The Retirement of a Longtime Royal Yacht

December 11, 1997

Britannia, a vessel that had served as the royal yacht of British monarch Queen Elizabeth II for more than four decades, was decommissioned in a ceremony at the Portsmouth naval base on England’s south coast.  Along with highlighting Britannia’s “brass fittings gleaming in the winter sunshine and flags rippling in a brisk breeze,” the Associated Press (AP) focused on the royal couple who were on hand for this weekday ceremony.

“Queen Elizabeth II struggled with her emotions and Prince Phillip wiped away a tear as they bid farewell Thursday to the magnificent yacht on which they toured a diminishing empire,” reported AP. “As the setting sun cast its golden light on the yacht, the strains of ‘Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the waves,’ played by a pipe band, proved too much for even the long-practiced royal composure.”

In its account of this decommissioning ceremony, the Ottawa Citizen noted that “no royal yacht was ever as versatile or well-traveled as Britannia.” This newspaper also reported, “Few ships have sailed 1.92 kilometers [1 million nautical miles]. Only this one has done so using its original engines.”

The 412-foot (126-meter) Britannia had been built at the shipyard of the engineering firm John Brown and Company in the Scottish town of Clydebank. The yacht was launched by Queen Elizabeth on April 16, 1953, a little over a year after she ascended the British throne following the death of her father, King George VI. Britannia was officially commissioned into service  on January 11, 1954.

Britannia’s maiden voyage took place that April, when she transported Princess Anne and Prince Charles from Portsmouth to the British colony (now independent republic) of Malta so that they could reunite with their parents at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth Tour. The following month, Elizabeth and Phillip traveled on Britannia for the first time during a a visit to the port city of Tobruk in the Kingdom (now State) of Libya.

Britannia was the 83 rd British royal yacht in an unbroken line of such vessels going all the way back to King Charles II, who formally reigned as monarch of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 1660 to 1685. Charles used his pioneering 50.5-foot (15.4-meter) vessel named Mary primarily for racing. Britannia was only the second British royal yacht bearing that name. The first one was a racing cutter (a type of high-speed sailing vessel) built in 1893 for Queen Victoria’s son Edward, Prince of Wales, who later ascended the throne as King Edward VII after the death of his mother.

Elizabeth’s royal yacht Britannia ultimately transported her, other members of the British Roytal Family, and various dignitaries on a grand total of 272 visits in British waters and 696 foreign trips. One of the yacht’s more notable trips abroad occurred during the summer of 1959, when Elizabeth traveled on Britannia via the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway to get to Chicago. This voyage made Elizabeth the first British monarch to visit the Windy City. President Dwight D. Eisenhower was on board the yacht for part of the that cruise through the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Other U.S. presidents who spent time on board Britannia were Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.

During her many years of service, Britannia also performed significant roles that went well beyond providing a means of transportation for the British Royal Family. In 1986, for example, the yacht was used to evacuate over 1,000 refugees from the port city of Aden after a civil war erupted in what was then the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula.

At the decommissioning ceremony for Britannia in 1997, Elizabeth took time to say a few words about the yacht and its importance. “Looking back over forty-four years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction,” said the queen.

In the time since she was retired from active service, Britannia has been berthed at the Port of Leith in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh. The yacht, which has been included in the National Historic Fleet (a list of historically significant vessels located in the United Kingdom), is now a popular tourist attraction. A registered charity known as the Royal Yacht Britannia Trust is responsible for Britannia’s continued care and maintenance.

For more information on the British royal yacht Britannia, please check out https://www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk/about/history/

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What to Know About the Royal Yacht Britannia Featured on 'The Crown' Season 5

The Royal Yacht Britannia served as the official royal yacht of the British monarchy for 44 years

The Crown is diving into royal events from the '90s in season 5 , and that includes the decommissioning of Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia.

In the first episode of the new season, Claire Foy ( who portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in seasons 1 and 2) reprises her role as the monarch as a flashback shows the yacht's official launch in April 1953.

At the time, the new yacht held special significance as it was launched by the Queen just before her own coronation in June 1953 .

Through the years, the vessel sailed over 1,000,000 nautical miles on 968 state visits with the royal family as they entertained prime ministers and presidents, per the Royal Yacht Britannia website. It also served as the venue for several royal honeymoons , including Princess Diana and Princes Charles in 1981 .

From when it was commissioned to where the Royal Yacht Britannia is now, here's everything to know about the royal yacht.

When was the Royal Yacht Britannia commissioned?

As shown on The Crown , Royal Yacht Britannia was officially launched on April 16, 1953 , at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, where Queen Elizabeth unveiled the yacht's official name.

Following Queen Elizabeth 's coronation on June 2, 1953, the Royal Yacht Britannia was commissioned into the Royal Navy on January 11, 1954, before sailing her first overseas port on April 22.

How big is the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The Royal Yacht Britannia is about 412 feet long , with a beam width of 55 feet and five decks , and weighs over 4,000 tons.

Who used the Royal Yacht Britannia?

The yacht was described as the royal family's "floating residence" during its 44 years of service. As it was used to host "magnificent state receptions and banquets, and guests ," numerous world leaders boarded the yacht over the years, including Sir Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, Ronald Reagan and Rajiv Gandhi.

Per the Royal Yacht Britannia website, the yacht also " allowed the Royal Family some rare privacy away from their public duties and was famously described by HM Queen Elizabeth II as 'the one place I can truly relax.' "

Furthermore, the Royal Yacht Britannia was the venue of four royal honeymoons : Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, and Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. All four royal marriages ended in divorce, which Queen Elizabeth famously reflected on in her 1992 speech where she referred to the past year as her "annus horribilis ," or horrible year.

The yacht's retirement was announced in 1994 as a result of the substantial costs needed to repair the ship. It was estimated that the cost would £17 million, which would only prolong the yacht for another five years.

On December 11, 1997, the Royal Yacht Britannia was decommissioned during an official ceremony that was attended by most of the senior members of the royal family. It was been reported that Queen Elizabeth was seen uncharacteristically shedding a tear during the decommissioning.

"Looking back over 44 years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon this great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction," the Queen said at the time .

Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, people can now visit the Royal Yacht Britannia at Port of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. Visitors are able to see various parts of the yacht including Britannia's five decks, the state apartments, as well as the Sun Lounge, which was the Queen's favorite room in which to have her afternoon tea.

Does the Royal Yacht Britannia have a successor?

Plans for a successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia first began in 2019 when it was reported that the late Sir Donald Gosling had donated £50 million to pay for the construction . In 2021, the yacht was commissioned by Boris Johnson to host trade fairs and diplomatic events and it was expected to go into service in 2024 or 2025.

However, in November 2022, it was reported by BBC that plans for the yacht were being scrapped as the government "searches for spending cuts." The new yacht was estimated to cost up to £250 million.

Related Articles

'the crown': did the queen really demand that the public pay for the britannia yacht refurb.

In season five of the Netflix drama, the Queen asks Prime Minister John Major to intervene. This is what actually happened

In episode one, series five of The Crown , a GP asks a “rather personal” question of the Queen (Imelda Staunton): is Balmoral her favourite residence? She demurs to answer, and instead the scene cuts to a majestic yacht, the HMY Royal Britannia, sailing somewhere in the Irish sea, presumably up to Scotland.

Five-star service? Try 10-star service on board this boujie boat: silver service suppers by candlelight; landscape painting sessions on the portside deck, a waiting staff of hundreds. Well, who wouldn’t love it? Try the British public, when, in the middle of a global recession, they were expected to shoulder a not-so-slight refurb costing £14.745 million (according to papers held by The Crown ’s Prince Phillip, Jonathan Pryce).

But while the Queen is seen asking – nay, telling – the then-PM John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) that her royal subjects will foot the bill in Peter Morgan's series, how much of this is true, and what happened to the luxury yacht in the end?

Royal Yacht Club

King Charles II first kicked off the idea that a personal boat was essential to the ruling monarch in 1660, and by the time the tradition was passed on to HRH Elizabeth II in 1953, it had evolved into the most luxury of ships.

The Queen launched the yacht in 1953, a 126-metre beast that could accommodate up to 250 guests, manned by 21 officers from the Royal Navy and 250 Royal Yachtsmen. The maiden voyage in 1954 took Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta to meet their parents, and over the years the boat entertained everyone from presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton to Nelson Mandela. Interestingly, the boat also doubled as a nuclear shelter for the Royals, who would have taken shelter in it off the coast of north-west Scotland, in case of an emergency.

While the yacht was mainly used for maritime jollies – Charles and Diana honeymooned on it in 1981, while the rest of the royal family used it for their annual fortnight jaunt to the west coast of Scotland, also known as their Western Isles Tour – it was also utilised to evacuate 1,000 people from Aden, Yemen, during a civil war in 1986.

However, in 1994, the Conservative government, then headed up by John Major, announced that the yacht would be lowering its anchor for the last time, due to the exorbitant running costs. Viscount Cranborne, House of Lords, said at the time: “The yacht last underwent a major refit in 1987. A further refit at an estimated cost of some £17 million would be necessary in 1996–97 but would only prolong her life for a further five years. In view of her age, even after the refit she would be difficult to maintain and expensive to run. It has therefore been decided to decommission "Britannia" in 1997.”

However, by 1997, and with a general election looming, the idea of royal yacht became a contentious issue, and the Tories declared they would recommission the yacht if they were re-elected. According to The Guardian at the time, the Queen was “furious” that the royal family was “dragged into the centre of the election campaign, just as it is fighting to restore its public image.”

“At the same time I hope it is clear to all concerned that this reticence on the part of the palace now way implies that Her Majesty is not deeply interested in the subject; on the contrary, the Queen would naturally very much welcome it if a way could be found of making available for the nation in the 21st Century the kind of service which Britannia has provided for the last 43 years.”

Speaking to the Daily Express , Professor Murphy, director of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, said of his letter discovery: “It is clear that behind the scenes the palace, which had been closely informed of the progress of discussions, was keen to keep the issue alive and was putting discreet pressure on Whitehall to come up with some alternative proposals.”

While The Crown goes a step further and shows the Queen putting her foot down to demand that John Major’s party – and the public – should pay for the refurb and to keep the boat on high seas, it’s highly unlikely this meeting ever took place. In 2003, the Sunday Telegraph quoted a source that claimed the monarch would have never put pressure on the government over a politically sensitive subject: “Neither the Queen or the Duke of Edinburgh have ever expressed an opinion on the way the issue was handled and nor would they do so.”

Britannia was eventually decommissioned in 1997, after Tony Blair and Labour were voted into power, ​​and its final trip 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. The Queen was later captured shedding a tear when it moored up in Portsmouth. The yacht is now a permanent visitor attraction in Port Leith, Edinburgh, and gets up to 300,000 shipmates a year.

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HMS Britannia: 10 facts about Queen Elizabeth's former royal yacht

From humanitarian missions to hosting royal honeymoons, the HMS Britannia has a fascinating history serving the British Royal Family for over four decades. When she was decommissioned in 1997, Queen Elizabeth II shed a tear in a rare display of emotion. The occasion marked the end of long succession for royal yachts dating back to the reign of Charles II. As the country prepares to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee, we remember her beloved Britannia .

1. Britannia was launched in 1953

Britannia was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth II following the death of her father and was launched from John Brown & Co. Ltd - the shipyard that built the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary cruise liners - in 1953. However, there was to be no traditional Champagne-smashing against her bow. In a post-war Britain, Champagne was considered too extravagant so instead, a bottle of Empire wine was selected to do the honours at her official launch ceremony.

2. There are three masts on board

Unlike her predecessors, Britannia possessed a more modern profile with a clipper bow and cruiser stern. The ship was designed with three masts: a 41-metre foremast, a  42-metre mainmast, and 36 metre mizzenmast. The last six metres of the main mast were placed on a hinge so she could pass under bridges.

3. Britannia logged over one million nautical miles

Between family vacations and official tours, Britannia logged over one million nautical miles, which roughly equates to one trip around the world for each of her 44 years in service.

4. The wheel was inherited

The ship’s wheel was taken from King Edward VII’s racing yacht, a 37-metre gaff-rigged cutter also named Britannia . She was a near sistership to Valkyrie II which challenged for the 1893 America's Cup, and won over 230 races in her lifetime. At the end of her life she was stripped of her spars and fittings - the wheel was saved and fitted on Britannia

5. The engine room was hyper-clean

The engine room was hyper-clean  Rumour has it that the engine room on Britannia was kept in such pristine condition that any visitors were made to wipe their feet on a door mat before entering.

6. Royal honeymoons were hosted on board

A number of royal couples chose to spend their honeymoons on Britannia given its privacy and security. Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones started the trend with a six-week sail between Mustique, Trinidad and Antigua, followed by Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, and Princess Diana and Prince Charles. The royal apartments were located on the shelter deck with access to a large veranda.

7. There were more than 200 crew on board

During royal tours, Britannia was manned by 220 yachtsmen, 21 officers and three season officers and a Royal Marine band of 26 on royal tours. Up until the 1970s, the crew had a daily ration of rum and she was the last Royal Navy vessel to have the crew sleep in hammocks.

8. Ready for war

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in times of war. Although she was never used in this capacity, she did assist in the evacuation of refugees during the South Yemen civil war. The drawing room was used as a temporary dormitory for the evacuees.

9. The golden rivet

It was common for officers to send junior crew off on a fool’s errand to search for a single "golden rivet". It became a right of passage and engrained in maritime folklore. During a state visit, so the story goes, the Queen had caught wind of this elusive rivet and was keen to see it for herself, so the crew found some gold leaf and hastily created a golden rivet to present to Her Majesty.

10. Decomission

HMS Britannia was officially retired from royal service in 1997. Britannia  is now permanently berthed in Edinburgh and has been converted into a museum. To this day, all the clocks on board remained stopped on 3.01pm which is the exact time the Queen last disembarked the vessel.

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The True Story Behind Mike and Eileen Parker's Divorce

The Crown shows how the Parkers' divorce almost brought down the royal marriage, but what’s the real story?

The first big scandal in season 2 of The Crown focuses on the divorce of the Duke of Edinburgh’s best friend and personal secretary, Lieutenant Commander Michael Parker, and how it nearly brought down the royal marriage. But how much of that is true? Here’s who Mike Parker was and how his separation and divorce from his wife Eileen Parker affected the Queen’s own relationship with her husband .

Born in Melbourne, Australia in 1920, John Michael Avison Parker joined the Royal Navy just as World War II broke out. He chose it over the Royal Australian Navy—in which his father served as a captain—so that he wouldn’t be accused of nepotism.

Philip Mountbatten and Parker became friends in the navy in June 1942, and the two young officers served again together in 1944 on sister ships of the 27th Destroyer Flotilla in the Far East. Their friendship grew when they took shore leave together in Australia.

When the war ended and Philip Mountbatten married then-Princess Elizabeth in 1947 , Philip brought on Parker as equerry and eventually his private secretary. During this time, Parker frequently butted heads with other members of the royal staff and even Winston Churchill himself, who did not approve of him arranging helicopters—which he saw as new-fangled and dangerous —to take Philip to meet Commonwealth troops in the lead up to the Queen's coronation.

While Parker’s main role in the royal household was to help Philip adjust to life in the spotlight as the Queen’s consort, it appears that he wasn’t able to do the same for his wife Eileen, whom he married in 1943 and with whom he had a son and a daughter.

In February 1957 The Sydney Morning Herald reported that, “[Eileen] is a ‘twin-set-and-tweed-skirt’— girl. She likes ballet, the opera, and horce-racing. She never took advantage of all the opportunities she had for being on the fringe of the Court. Not so her husband. For him everything was back to the happy days he had spent in the Service ... with a difference. Now he was on familiar terms with the most famous and entertaining people in the land.”

As the first episode of season 2 details, Parker did accompanied the Duke of Edinburgh on his 1956 trip on the Royal Yacht Britannia to help his boss and friend open the Melbourne Olympics and visit remote outposts of the Commonwealth around the world. It was during this trip that Eileen sued her husband for divorce.

While Parker did, in fact, belong to the Thursday Club with Philip, there is no evidence of the more titillating details depicted on The Crown —that he had affair with a waitress there or sent any letters to the club boasting of his infidelity.

A divorce was still a major scandal in 1957 and one so close to the Royal family caused an uproar. On the show, Philip is seen demanding Parker’s resignation. In reality, according to Parker's obituary in the Independent , he “quixotically decided to fall on his sword.” After resigning his position aboard the Britannia , Parker left Philip in Gibraltar to return to London where he was greeted by reporters eager to find out more about the scandal.

Parker’s resignation “rocked Palace court circles,” sparking rumors of a rift between the Duke of Edinburgh and the Queen, according to AP reports in 1957.

Two weeks after Parker’s resignation, Philip and Queen Elizabeth did in fact reunite in Portugal during a particularly stormy night on board the Britannia, the AP reported.

Reunited after a separation of more than four months, they had been pitched about as high winds whistled over the yacht and waves sank a dozen small fishing boats of the villagers. [. . .] Elizabeth was smiling but pale upon landing. The Duke was his swaggering self. Their 20 hours together after a reunion yesterday, the Duke having returned from a 35,000 mile tour, gave them their first opportunity to discuss events that led to reports of a royal rift. Buckingham Palace had quickly and positively denied there was trouble between the Queen and the man she married nine years ago. Gossip persisted, however, and the royal couple must be aware of it. The privacy of their royal cabins last night would have given them a chance to talk about it.

Shortly thereafter, the Queen promoteed Philip to Prince so that he wouldn’t have to testify in Mike Parker’s divorce trial. “Despite his title as duke and first gentleman in the land, Philip could have been subpoenaed to testify for Mrs. Parker until his elevation to prince on February 22 lifted him beyond the range of a subpoena,” the New York News-Chicago Tribune Dispatch reported in March of 1957.

Eileen Parker was eventually granted a divorce in 1958 on the grounds of adultery. Reuters even named the other woman in their reports as Mrs. Mary Alexandra Thompson. Custody of the Parkers’ children Michael, 13, and Julie, 9, was awarded to Eileen.

Even after Parker resigned his position as Prince Philip’s personal secretary, he remained close friends with the royal consort through regular correspondence, even visiting Buckingham Palace on occasion. He eventually moved back to Australia in the late 1960s.

Parker got married again in 1962 to Carol Thompson. After having another daughter and son with Thompson, they divorced as well. He was married a third time in 1976 to Jean Ramsay.

Parker died in Melbourne at the age of 81 on December 29, 2001.

Lyndsey Matthews is the Destination News Editor for AFAR; previously she was a Lifestyle Editor across all of Hearst Digital Media's brands, and a digital editor at Martha Stewart Weddings and Travel + Leisure .

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History Hit Story of England: Making of a Nation

• 20th Century

10 Facts About Royal Yacht Britannia

Peta Stamper

28 nov 2022.

The 83rd and last in a long line of royal yachts, HMY Britannia has become one of the most famous ships in the world. Now permanently moored at Edinburgh’s Port of Leith, the floating palace is a visitor attraction welcoming some 300,000 people aboard each year.

For Queen Elizabeth II, Britannia was the ideal residence for state visits and peaceful royal family holidays and honeymoons. For the British public, Britannia was a symbol of Commonwealth. For the 220 naval officers who lived aboard Britannia , and the royal family, the 412-foot-long yacht was home.

Having travelled more than a million nautical miles over 44 years of service to the British Crown, Her Majesty’s beloved boat was decommissioned in 1997. Here are 10 facts about life aboard HMY Britannia.

1. Britannia was launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 using a bottle of wine, not champagne

Champagne is traditionally smashed against a ship’s hull during launching ceremonies. However, in a post-war climate champagne was seen as too frivolous, so a bottle of Empire wine was used instead.

Britannia launched from the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland.

2. Britannia was the 83rd Royal Yacht

King George VI , Elizabeth II’s father, had first commissioned the royal yacht that would become Britannia in 1952. The previous official boat had belonged to Queen Victoria and was rarely used. The tradition of royal yachts had been started by Charles II in 1660.

George decided that the Royal Yacht Britannia should both be a regal vessel as well as a functional one.

3. Britannia had two emergency functions

Britannia was designed to be converted into a hospital ship in time of war, although that function was never used. Additionally, as part of the Cold War plan Operation Candid, in the event of nuclear war the ship would become a refuge off the north-west coast of Scotland for the Queen and Prince Philip.

4. Her maiden voyage was from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour in Malta

She carried Prince Charles and Princess Anne to Malta to meet the Queen and Prince Philip at the end of the royal couple’s Commonwealth tour. The Queen stepped aboard Britannia for the first time in Tobruk on 1 May 1954.

Over the next 43 years, Britannia would transport the Queen, members of the Royal Family and various dignitaries on some 696 foreign visits.

The HMY Britannia on a visit by the Queen to Canada in 1964

Image Credit: Royal Canadian Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

5. Britannia hosted some of the 20th century’s most notable figures

In July 1959, Britannia sailed the newly opened Saint Lawrence Seaway to Chicago where she docked, making the Queen the first British monarch to visit the city. US President Dwight Eisenhower hopped aboard Britannia for part of the journey.

In later years, Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton would also step aboard. Charles and Diana, the Prince and Princess of Wales, took their honeymoon cruise on Britannia in 1981.

6. The crew were volunteers from the Royal Navy

After 365 days’ service, crew members could be admitted to the Permanent Royal Yacht Service as Royal Yachtsmen (‘Yotties’) and serve until they either chose to leave or were dismissed. As a result, some yachtsmen served on  Britannia  for over 20 years.

The crew also included a detachment of Royal Marines, who would dive underneath the ship each day while moored away from home to check for mines or other threats.

7. All royal children were allocated a ‘Sea Daddy’ on board the ship

The ‘sea daddies’ were primarily tasked with looking after the children and keeping them entertained (games, picnics and water fights) during voyages. They also oversaw the children’s chores, including cleaning the life rafts.

8. There was a ‘Jelly Room’ onboard for the royal children

The yacht had a total of three galley kitchens where Buckingham Palace ‘s chefs prepared meals. Among these galleys was a chilled room called the ‘Jelly Room’ for the sole purpose of storing royal children’s jellied desserts.

9. It cost around £11 million every year to run Britannica

The cost of running Britannia was always an issue. In 1994, another expensive refit for the ageing vessel was proposed. Whether or not to refit or commission a new royal yacht entirely came down to the election result of 1997. With repairs at a proposed cost of £17 million, Tony Blair’s new Labour government were unwilling to commit public funds to replace Britannica.

HMY Britannia in 1997, London

Image Credit: Chris Allen, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

10. All the clocks on board remain stopped at 3:01pm

In December 1997,  Britannia was officially decommissioned. The clocks have been kept at 3:01pm – the exact moment the Queen went ashore for the last time following the ship’s decommissioning ceremony, during which the Queen shed a rare public tear.

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Paul burrell reveals the queen told him to 'find a woman and get married'.

Her Majesty turned marriage ­adviser after Paul was linked to a Navy scandal on board the Royal Yacht Britannia

• 22:05, 11 Mar 2017
• Updated 22:11, 11 Mar 2017

Former royal butler Paul Burrell today tells how he fell for a fellow servant after the Queen told him to go off and find “a suitable girl from around the Palace”.

Her Majesty turned marriage adviser after Paul was linked to a Navy scandal on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.

He heeded her advice and after he married Maria Cosgrove – then Prince Philip ’s maid – the delighted Queen sent them to Balmoral on honeymoon.

Paul reveals a string of amazing ­conversations with the Queen in ­today’s exclusive Sunday Mirror interview.

The marriage advice all stemmed from the 1981 episode on Britannia.

Paul remembers how a naval officer was prosecuted and dismissed from the Navy for ­committing homosexual acts. The events are still hurtful for Paul to recount.

He says: “It’s very delicate... still today. I knew these people, there was a lot of suffering. They were different times.”

Paul was suspended from Palace duties and revealed his pain in a letter to his Aussie lover Greg Pead, who later sold his story.

“I’ve never spoken about what happened,” says Paul.

The Queen, who Paul says is “incredibly broadminded”, later took him aside and expressed how pleased she was he was returning to his duties as her personal footman and that the matter was considered closed.

Then came her firm advice. Paul, 58, says: “Her ­Majesty took me aside and said, ‘Paul, the institution of marriage is a wonderful thing – have you thought of getting married?’

"I said, ‘Well, your Majesty, I have, yes’. She replied ‘Well there are some lovely girls around the Palace. I’m sure you can find one suitable’.

“Some time later I was in Her ­Majesty’s bedroom and Prince Philip’s maid came in to help me. She helped me pull over a cover and smiled at me and I thought, ‘How sweet, she’s lovely’.

"That was Maria. We went to Balmoral, very much a party place and ­somewhere to begin relationships. We got to know each other better and ­realised we had a great deal in ­common.

"I took a picture of her as she was leaving to go back to London. That’s the moment I thought, ‘Yes, she’s the one I’m going to marry’.”

Paul broke the news to the Queen when he and Maria announced their engagement. They wed in 1983.

He goes on: “She said, ‘I’m ­absolutely delighted, so thrilled for you Paul. You won’t regret getting married.

"Marriage is a wonderful, wonderful thing and when you have children you will ­realise it is the foundation of life.

“So there we have it... the Queen ­giving me marital advice. Giving me a serious talk, the chance to go forward.”

Dad-of-two Paul says the Queen “showered” him with gifts, including candlesticks and a gold carriage clock.

“I was the Queen’s boy,” says Paul. “We had a close, special relationship. Her Majesty knows what I haven’t said and that is important to me.”

He says it was protocol for wives in royal service to step down – to bring up the family. But Paul says: “The Queen asked why Maria was going to stop working for Prince Philip.

“She said, ‘He’s going to be very ­unhappy, why does it have to happen?’

“I told her one of her relatives had made the rule and she said, ‘I’ll change it’ – and she did.”

When Paul told the Queen he was going on honeymoon to Rhyl, North Wales, she instead offered them the chance to go to Balmoral for a few days before the royal party arrived.

Paul says: “It was bliss. Charles and Diana came back from honeymoon to Balmoral. And it’s the place Queen Victoria and her daughters had theirs.

“There’s a bedroom where brides etched their names, with diamond engagement rings, in the glass panes. The most romantic place. Maria’s ­diamond wasn’t big enough to do that.

“When we got there the housekeeper said, ‘What are we going to do with you? There are no double beds in staff accommodation – only singles’.

Nine months later our son Alexander was born... we shared a single bed.”

And first to be told about the birth was the Queen. Paul adds: “I rang her. She was delighted and wanted to meet him as soon as Maria got out of hospital.

“So, the first person to see my son was the Queen. Two days old and there he was in the sitting room of Buckingham Palace with his little hand clasping on to her finger. What an amazing memory.”

Paul says the Queen would always offer advice when it was needed and was “very understanding” back in 1981.

He says she is fully aware of all that happens below stairs in her Palaces but only ­intervenes when necessary.

“Nothing fazes the Queen. She accepts everything that happens. You can go to her with any problem. She was always there for me and she was fascinated to know the details,” he says.

Maria, Paul’s wife of 32 years, was at his side when the Queen presented him with the Royal ­Victorian Medal in ­November 1997 for services to the Royal Family.

But Paul admits the Queen may be ­“bewildered” by his life today. Last week it was revealed he will marry his lawyer boyfriend Graham Cooper in April after divorcing Maria.

Today he ­reveals the wedding will be an intimate affair, with around 50 guests, at a luxury country house.

Paul says: “It’s going to be a glamorous ­affair. Not a lavish one, nor a ­circus themed one which some people have suggested. It will be beautiful hats for a beautiful, special day. There won’t be a dry eye in the house.”

Paul has told how Princess Diana is never far from his thoughts. He reveals she tested his loyalty before poaching him to be her butler – and “her rock”.

He says: “She was pregnant with Harry and was just showing. She pushed me into a Balmoral dining room, took my hand and said, ‘Put your hand on my tummy. You feel that?’ she said. ‘It’s a boy.’

“It was a state secret and she was handing me my biggest test. I didn’t even tell Maria... I passed the test.”

MORE ON The Queen Paul Burrell Marriage

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Diana's butler Paul Burrell hits out at claims he is planning to cash in on his wedding news by revealing all about a gay ORGY on the Royal Yacht Britannia

• The orgy aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia reportedly took place in 1981
• Homosexuality was illegal in the British military when alleged incident occurred 
• The orgy supposedly involved members of the navy, who were later dismissed
• Mr Burrell wasn't arrested for the orgy, nor did he face criminal charges because he 'was the Queen's right hand man at that point', Burrell's agent said
• But Mr Burrell siad he wanted to 'unequivocally distance' hismelf from quotes attributed to his representative

By Kelly Mclaughlin For Mailonline

Published: 18:42 EDT, 7 March 2017 | Updated: 02:56 EDT, 8 March 2017

View comments

Princess Diana 's 'rock' Paul Burrell has hit out at claims from his agent that he is touting details of a gay orgy he took part in on the Royal Yacht Britannia for cash.

His agent claimed he was willing to discuss the scandal, claiming that when the Queen found out, she threatened to fire him if he didn't settle down with a woman.

Adam Muddle told  The Sun : 'He wants to talk about the scandal that happened on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is where members of the Navy were dismissed for being caught up in a gay orgy.

'Paul was there. But he wasn't arrested or subjected to any sort of criminal charges because he was the Queen's right hand man at that point.'  

The orgy, which supposedly included several members of the navy who were later dismissed, reportedly took place in 1981, when homosexuality was still illegal in the British military.

The claims come a day after the father-of-two, 58, came out as gay and announced he would be marrying his long-term partner.

But a furious Mr Burrell hit back: 'I would like to unequivocally distance myself from the gutter quotes, attributed to my representative, that are not only unacceptable but totally misrepresent me.

'I will review how and why this 'pitch' ever came to pass without my knowledge.'

Princess Diana's 'rock' Paul Burrell (pictured fifth from right) was part of a gay orgy on the Royal Yacht Britannia, his agent claims. None of the people in the above photo of the Britannia are thought to have been involved in the reported orgy

Getting married: Princess Diana's former butler Burrell is believed to be tying the knot to his lawyer partner Graham Cooper next month (both pictured)

Mr Burrell added: 'I would ask that people judge me on words from my mouth, not what a newspaper predicts I'll say, and not what someone might wish for me to say.

'I did not commission my agent to say anything along the lines of what's been reported in The Sun.

'Any conversation on such subject matter happened only between him and the newspaper, and yet the headline attributes to me words which I repudiate.

'I would ask that people judge me on words from my mouth, not what a newspaper predicts I'll say, and not what someone might wish for me to say.

'Any conversation on such subject matter happened only between him and the newspaper, and yet the headline attributes to me words which I repudiate.' 

Reports from 1981 show that a trial against naval members were held in secret, which prompted rumours of a cover-up, which officials denied.

The men involved were accused of 'disgraceful conduct of a cruel, indecent or unnatural kind', and sailors were arrested after X-rated photos were found during a drugs raid.

When the Queen found out about the orgy, she threatened to fire Burrell unless he found a woman to marry. Two years later, he wed his wife of more than 30 years, Maria

The Queen was kept up to date on disciplinary proceedings during the case, and Prince Phillip was shown a special report on the case, the Sun reported.

Buckingham Palace would not comment on claims that the Queen knew Mr Burrell was involved in the orgy.

Two years later, in 1983, Burrell wed his wife Maria.

Mr Burrell, who divorced his wife last year, first hinted at the orgy in letters to his friend, Greg Pead, who claimed to have an affair with Burrell, said they had a romance in the 1980s.

Mr Pead says he had a passionate two year affair with the royal butler in the early 1980s, before he wed wife Maria and had two children, and even received a marriage proposal by letter.

When Mr Burrell was caught up in the gay porn investigation aboard the yacht Britannia, he wrote to Mr Pead explaining how he had lost his job only to be re-instated by the Queen.

Mr Pead said: 'He wrote to me saying: 'As you are aware, Greg, this has been a terrible time for me - I was dismissed from royal duties and thought my life had ended... the Queen reinstated me and said: 'Paul, I am so glad to have you back. Let's put this unsavoury business behind us.'

'I believe it was her way of trying to stop his homosexual behaviour.'

The 63-year-old, who now runs a vintage clothes store on Australia's Gold Coast, told MailOnline he also still possesses the letter from Burrell where he talks about marriage.

Speaking exclusively to Mail Online Mr Pead said: 'I've still got the letter Paul wrote to me saying he wanted to get married and he would wear white.

'I wonder if he will be wearing white for his own wedding?'

In 2009, Mr Pead told a documentary that Mr Burrell was told by the Royal family that he had to settle down or find a new job.

Mr Burrell has never talked about his sexuality even though it was well known within royal circles that he was gay.

Gay affair: Greg Pead, now 63, says he had a passionate two year relationship with the royal butler in the early 1980s, before Burrell wed wife Maria and had two children, and even received a marriage proposal by letter 

Close: Burrell, 'Mandy' and Mr Pead in London, 1981, when Pead says he was in the midst of a passionate affair with the royal butler and was invited to Buckingham Palace

Royals: Burrell, who served Princess Diana (pictured together in 1994) for ten years, claimed the Princess of Wales called him her 'rock' and the 'only man I ever trusted' - her sons would later accuse him of 'betrayal'

His spokesman confirmed that Burrell and his partner Graham Cooper, also 58, will marry in April. They have reportedly been together for a decade.

The ex- royal flunkey and his wife Maria have been living separate lives for over five years. They divorced last year after 32 years of marriage.

The couple's sons, Alex, 27, and Nick, 24 have been nothing but supportive of their father's announcement.

A friend told The Mirror that the men told their father: 'Don't worry, dad, we will stand proud beside you on your big day.'

Pead, who first went public with details of his affair with Burrell in 2002, said the announcement of Burrell's wedding to his 58 year old partner is due to take place in April.

He went public with the wedding after being approached by a national newspaper who had been tipped off about the nuptials.

Burrell's sexuality will come as no shock to members of the royal family and other members of staff.

While he always denied being gay – except to Princess Diana – others within the royal circle were aware.

One story circulating within the royal household was that Mr Burrell, then a footman at Buckingham Palace was told to get married or lose his job after allegedly being linked to gay pornography on the royal yacht Britannia.

In 1983 he wed Maria Cosgrove, a maid to the Duke of Edinburgh and they had two sons Alexander, now 27 and Nicholas,24.

The marriage took place three years after the alleged affair with Mr Pead had ended.

Previous relationship: Paul Burrell and ex-wife Maria, who divorced last year after 32 years of marriage, left in 1984, and have two sons, who were only told recently their father was gay

'BUTLER ONLY TOLD DIANA HE WAS GAY' 

A source close to Mr Burrell has claimed the only person her ever told about his sexuality was Diana.

The couple's adult sons Alexander, 27, and Nicholas, 24, are expected to fly over from the US to attend the wedding ceremony in the Lake District.

Their 'lavish' wedding ceremony will be 'circus themed' – with waiters dressed as clowns and ringmasters – and Paul and his boyfriend have already held their stag do with friends at a Blackpool drag club, according to The Sun .

Mr Burrell and Mr Cooper live together and were listed as directors at the same company in records from 2011.

Mr Cooper is believed to be a Legal Director for HBOS in Chester since 2010, having previously spent 22 years working for Lloyds Bank.

They were also pictured together on Facebook at the Blackberry Creek Retreat Bed & Breakfast, during a holiday in Missouri, US, in 2014, two years before Mr Burrell's divorce.

Mr Burrell has always refused to discuss his sexuality despite a 2002 expose in which an Australian man claimed they had enjoyed a three-year relationship in the early 1980s before he married Maria.

However, a source close to the former butler has revealed that he confided in his special friend, Princess Diana.

They told the Sun : 'Paul's friends and family all know but for a long time he kept it a closely guarded secret.

'He did share it with Diana while he worked with her because they were so close.

'But at the time she was the only woman he felt he could tell.'

Mr Pead even claimed that Mr Burrell later invited him into the Queen's private quarters to see her corgi dogs.

Although only a footman, Mr Pead said Mr Burrell was treated like royalty by the other staff.

He said Mr Burrell would write love letters to him on embossed stationery from the royal yacht , Windsor Castle and the Palace.

In the letters Mr Burrell's term of endearment for his lover was 'Pumpkin Pie' and called a part of his anatomy 'roo'.

The affair continued in 1981 when Mr Pead made trips to London, and also when Burrell visited Sydney, Australia for a three weeks arriving on New Year's Eve.

Mr Pead recalled that the affair fizzled out when Mr Burrell refused to move to Australia and they last saw each other in 1982 when Mr Pead said they slept together twice.

He had no further contact with Mr Burrell but said he was stunned when he saw photos of his ex-lover's wedding to Maria in the Australian press.

Pead first went public with details of the affair 20 years after it ended when Burrell was in the headlines for allegedly stealing Diana's possessions following her death in 1997.

His trial at the Old Bailey was sensationally stopped when the Queen 'remembered' he had told her he was holding on to them for safe keeping.

New love:  Mr Burrell and partner Mr Cooper while on a holiday in Missouri, US, in 2014

Home: Paul Burrell lives in this rural Cheshire mansion with his fiance Graham, who he plans to marry next month

Following his acquittal Burrell cashed in on his close relationship with Diana by writing a tell all book.

But in a rare public statement, Prince William and Prince Harry accused him of betraying their mother and said she would have been mortified by his breach of confidence.

'We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal,' they said in 2003.

'If we may say so, we feel we are more able to speak for our mother than Paul. We ask Paul to bring these revelations to an end.'

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With the proceeds of the book, he bought a property in Clermont, near Orlando, Florida, in 2004 but his wife and children remained at their home in Cheshire.

Mr Burrell spent weeks at a time touring the US as he gave speeches on etiquette and his life in royal service.

His Florida home was ironically on a road called Majestic Isle in an up market gated community about 30 miles from the Disney theme parks of Orlando.

Maria and the children later moved to Florida and the boys attended US college. Alexander worked as a swimming pool cleaner part time during breaks from his studies.

Paul and Maria Burell have two sons together, Alexander and Nicholas (pictured, in 2002)

When Mr Burrell moved back to Cheshire to run a flower shop his wife and children remained in Florida.

They were divorced last year by mutual consent.

Maria has never publically spoken about her husband's alleged sexuality.

Her only comment on the subject came when her brother Ron Cosgrove sold a story to a Sunday newspaper alleging that she knew he was bisexual.

Cosgrove also claimed Mr Burrell had a gay affair with his neighbours in Florida and he and Maria only stayed married for the sake of their children.

He later sold another story for £45,000 alleging Mr Burrell had told him he had slept with Princess Diana. Solicitors for the ex-butler said the story was false and filed a complaint to the press watchdog and Maria denied the allegations.

As the most high profile of royal servants Mr Burrell has been subject to numerous stories about his sexuality.

In 2002 comic Michael Barrymore claimed Mr Burrell had tried to seduce him while he was grieving over the death of the Princess.

Paul and Maria Burrell met while they were both working at Buckingham Palace, with Maria serving as the Duke of Edinburgh's maid, and married in 1984.

An established tradition suggested one of them should give up their job with the Royal Family, but the Queen made an exception for them, allowing both to remain in Royal service.

Mr Burrell started working for Diana four years later and went on to become one of her most trusted members of staff.

He joined Prince Charles and Diana at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire in 1987 and remained there until her death in 1997.

In 2006 Mr Burrell released his second book about his time serving Princess Diana, called The Way We Were

HOW PAUL BURRELL BECAME THE 'ONLY MAN' PRINCESS DIANA TRUSTED

Paul Burrell served as Princess Diana's private butler for 10 years

Burrell, who entered Royal Service at age 18, as a Palace footman, became the Queen's personal footman a year later.

He joined Prince Charles and Diana at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire in 1987 and remained there until her death in August 1997. 

Burrell was the only non-family member to be present at Diana's private burial at the Spencer estate Althorp. 

In 1993 she wrote a letter to him that claimed the Prince of Wales was plotting to kill her so he could marry Tiggy Legge-Bourke, the former nanny to Princes William and Harry.

The note was shown at the inquest into her death and was sent to Burrell in October - 10 months after her separation from Prince Charles was announced.

Burrell wrote two tell-all books after her death - A Royal Duty in 2003 and a follow-up book called The Way We Were in 2006 - in which he claimed she had called him 'the only man I can trust'.

It is believed the Princess of Wales entrusted him with her private papers during her divorce.

He said: 'She was surrounded by the richest, most educated people and she chose a lorry driver's son from Derbyshire. 

'She called me her rock and I took care of her.'

Mr Burrell then made millions from a series of books about his life with the princess and from appearing on reality shows such as I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.

In the international bestseller he claimed Diana described him as her 'rock' and 'the only man I can trust'.

In 2003 he wrote a tell-all memoir 'A Royal Duty' that went into detail about his time serving the Prince and Princess of Wales, and featured letters to him from Diana.

But in a rare public statement, Prince William and Prince Harry accused him of betraying their mother and said she would have been mortified by his breach of confidence. 'We cannot believe that Paul, who was entrusted with so much, could abuse his position in such a cold and overt betrayal,' they said in 2003.

With the proceeds of the book, he bought a property in Clermont, near Orlando, Florida, in 2004.

The relocation came two years after he was accused of stealing 352 items from Princess Diana's estate after she died - charges that were later dropped.

In 2006 he also released a follow-up book called The Way We Were. In this work, he claimed Diana's mother Frances Shand Kydd didn't like him and believed he was 'just another hanger-on grasping at Diana's celebrity'.

Maria Burrell moved to Florida in 2010 after her husband admitted he had not told 'the whole truth' at the inquest into Diana's death in 1997, which was held in 2008.

Last year they divorced.

Mr Burrell has made a number of TV appearances since Diana's death, including on Ant And Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (left) and on ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here in 2004 (right)

Mr Burrell was quoted as saying: 'I still love my wife. Marrying her was the best thing in my life, and to witness the boys being born – nothing compares. It's sad when people part, but it happens a lot.'

A spokesman announced last year that their decision to divorce was a 'mutual one'.

A statement said: 'Our clients Paul and Maria Burrell would like to end any speculation over the past few days by confirming that they are currently going through a divorce.

'The decision to file for divorce was a mutual one, both Paul and Maria remain the best of friends and have two wonderful sons together who remain their priority.

'Paul and Maria will not be giving any further comments and would kindly request that their privacy is respected during this time.'

After his career serving the Royals, Burrell made a number of TV appearances.

In 2004 he was runner-up in series four of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! in which he stayed in the Australian jungle for three weeks - coming second to comedian Joe Pasquale.

He was also a judge and trainer on Australian Princess in 2005, and in March 2006 appeared on Countdown in Dictionary Corner.

In early 2006, he appeared as Richard Gere on ITV's Stars In Their Eyes, singing Razzle Dazzle from the film Chicago.

In September 2015, Paul appeared in Celebrity Big Brother as part of a shopping task.

Share or comment on this article: Paul Burrell 'was involved in gay orgy on Yacht Britannia'

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• 7 Moments In History That...

7 Moments in History That Shaped Yekaterinburg

A young city by Russian standards, Yekaterinburg grew from industrial beginnings into a modern city with a vibrant arts scene. On the cusp of both Europe and Asia, it was created for its closeness to one of Russia’s most prosperous mountain ranges. Its locality saw the city through World War II and took it into the tumultuous 90s, when the city became a hotbed for lawlessness as the Soviet Union transitioned into the Russia Federation. Discover the stories that defined the character of contemporary Yekaterinburg .

Natural wealth.

Market, Museum

End of an Empire

The Russian Revolution brought an ending to Imperial Russia. In 1918, the Romanov family (Tsar Nicholas, his wife Alexandrea and their children Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei) were executed by the Bolsheviks. Their bodies were then disposed of in an unused mine, just on the outskirts of Yekaterinburg. The death of the family herald a new era for the country and thrust Russia into the communist state that was only dismantled in 1991. In the city centre, not far from the Iset River, the Church upon the Blood stands on the family’s execution site. Likewise, a short trip out of town, the Ganina Yama Monastery has been built next to the old mine that pays homage to Russia’s last royal family.

Church upon the Blood, Ulitsa Tolmacheva 34, Yekaterinburg, Russia , +7 343 371-61-68

Ganina Yama Monastery, Ganina Yama, Yekaterinburg, Russia, +7 343 283-03-74

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World War II

The city changed its’s name to Sverdlovsk, in honour of the Bolshevik who was one of Stalin’s trusted confidants. Over 700 factories and state technical institutions relocated to the area from Western Russia in efforts to maintain production during WWII. Many factories and institutions stayed when WWII ended, further strengthening the city’s industrial importance and paving the way for further industrial development. During the war the Hermitage Museum collections were in part relocated to the city in 1941 and remained there until 1945.

A closed city

The rise of the new leader

Mafia warfare.

The collapse of the Soviet Union spun Russia into uncertain times. The initiation of perestroika , the restructuring of Russia’s economic and political system, saw unemployment rise and made the nation vulnerable to corruption as people tried to take advantage of a changing economic structure. During the volatile and unstable times of the 1990s Yekaterinburg was home to mafia turf wars between feuding gangs in pursuit of their own agendas. Chiefly the Uralmash Gang and the Central gang, whose warring turned Yekaterinburg into a bloody battle ground. The mafia buried their clan in cemeteries on the outskirts of the city, complete with ostentatious and gaudy tombstones.

Shirokorechenskoe Cemetery, Yekaterinburg, Russia

Shirokaya Rechka Cemetery, Yekaterinburg, Russia

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The Britannia's final voyage took place in July 1997 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 ...

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The Royal Yacht Britannia served as the official royal yacht of the British monarchy for 44 years. The Crown is diving into royal events from the '90s in season 5, and that includes the ...

The Queen launched the yacht in 1953, a 126-metre beast that could accommodate up to 250 guests, manned by 21 officers from the Royal Navy and 250 Royal Yachtsmen.

7. There were more than 200 crew on board. During royal tours, Britannia was manned by 220 yachtsmen, 21 officers and three season officers and a Royal Marine band of 26 on royal tours. Up until the 1970s, the crew had a daily ration of rum and she was the last Royal Navy vessel to have the crew sleep in hammocks. 8.

What happened to the royal yacht? With the cost of renovating the five-decade old yacht reaching nearly £20million, the Conservative government decided in 1994 that HMY Britannia would go into ...

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Adam Muddle told The Sun: 'He wants to talk about the scandal that happened on the Royal Yacht Britannia, which is where members of the Navy were dismissed for being caught up in a gay orgy. 'Paul ...

In the city centre, not far from the Iset River, the Church upon the Blood stands on the family's execution site. Likewise, a short trip out of town, the Ganina Yama Monastery has been built next to the old mine that pays homage to Russia's last royal family. Church upon the Blood, Ulitsa Tolmacheva 34, Yekaterinburg, Russia, +7 343 371-61-68.

Yekaterinburg [a] is a city and the administrative centre of Sverdlovsk Oblast and the Ural Federal District, Russia.The city is located on the Iset River between the Volga-Ural region and Siberia, with a population of roughly 1.5 million residents, [14] up to 2.2 million residents in the urban agglomeration. Yekaterinburg is the fourth-largest city in Russia, the largest city in the Ural ...

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