Royal Heartbreak: Sad Queen Elizabeth II Wept After Losing 'Travel Buddy'
Seeing Queen Elizabeth II cry in public is nearly impossible. However, there was one time let her guard down when she let go of the most important "travel buddy" she had.
Queen Elizabeth II, as the reigning monarch, needs to look firm and staunch all the time as she represents the whole British monarchy. However, royal commentators recently revealed that the Queen failed to control her emotions after she lost "a part of the royal family's memories".
During her appearance on the "Royally Obsessed" podcast, royal commentator Rachel Bowie recalled how the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia caused Her Majesty to weep in public.
"I love the use that they got out of it. It was decommissioned in 1997," Bowie said, recalling the time when the beloved Britannia was taken out of service. "I think it was just such a part of so many family memories for the entire royal clan."
Built by John Brown & Co, the 44-year-old yacht belonged to her father, King George VI. But when the king found out about his illness, he decided to have Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip oversee and manage the Britannia instead since "he would not be around" anymore to use it.
The royal family welcomed the Royal Yacht Britannia on April 16, 1953 -- over a year after King George VI lost his battle against lung cancer -- and commissioned it in January 1954.
According to the royal commentator, over 30,000 well-wishers attended the commissioning event in the Clydeside to see Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
"The ceremony actually occurred a month before the Queen's official coronation as monarch on June 2." Bowie said. "The ship itself was commissioned just two days after the death of Queen Elizabeth's father and took over a year to be completed."
Queen Elizabeth II, at that time, cracked a bottle of wine and pronounced: "I name this ship Britannia. I wish success to her and all who sail in her."
On December 11, 1997, the Queen said goodbye to their then-royal yacht (which was also called as Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia) after its last voyage on October 20 of the same year.
On that day as well, royal watchers realized how Her Majesty's heart got broken as she let go of the Britannia which became a witness of many royal gatherings and events.
"One final fun fact: the clocks remain stopped at 3:01, the exact time when the Queen embarked for the very last time," Bowie went on.
Aside from royal visits abroad, several members of the royal family also used Britannia for their honeymoons -- four honeymoons in the yacht's 44 years of service to be exact.
Princess Margaret and Anthony Armstrong Jones became the first ones to turn it into a honeymoon "destination" followed by Princess Anne and Captain Mark Philips. The latter couple even faced storms that made them seasick.
Princess Charles and Princess Diana, as well as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, also got to spend their time as newlyweds at the yacht.
