ROYAL YACHT BRITANNIA MOOR THE MERRIER FOR VISITORS
For 44 years, the Royal Yacht Britannia (left) provided a floating home for the Queen, who famously described it as “the one place I can truly relax”. And anyone harbouring ambitions to celebrate the berth of a new age in sovereign style can hop aboard the royal favourite this weekend.
Open to the public since 1998, a year after it was decommissioned, Britannia is one of Scotland’s top visitor attractions, with around 400,000 people a year following in the footsteps of Princes and Presidents and exploring its five decks, splendid state apartments, crew quarters and engine room. For the coronation, it will be decked out in spectacular fashion (above) as it marks the momentous occasion.
It was not just the Queen who cherished special memories of the yacht. Aged five, the now King and younger sister Princess Anne were the first members of the royal family to sail on it. Their maiden voyage almost 70 years ago – from Portsmouth to Malta, where they joined their parents – was the first of many childhood trips (left, sailing from Cardiff with the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh in 1960).
“We expended so much energy that we couldn’t describe our time on the yacht as a rest,” the Princess Royal once recalled.
In later years, too, the then Prince of Wales spent time on the “floating palace” – not all of it on official business. Following their wedding in 1981, he and Diana spent their honeymoon cruising around the Mediterranean Sea.
THE KING COCOA-RONATION OR BUST
After what has been described as the longest apprenticeship in history, the King always aimed to be a mould-breaking monarch. But a chocolate head of state?
Perhaps not so much.
Ahead of the biggest day of his life, when The Mall will be choc-a-block with well-wishers, Jen Lindsey-Clark (left and above) has created the sweetest of tributes to Charles – a life-sized replica of his head and shoulders, crafted from 2,845 individual Celebrations chocolates.
Commissioned by Mars and unveiled last week, the edible sculpture went on display at the confectionery giant’s UK headquarters in Slough, Berkshire. Four weeks in the making, it shows Charles dressed in the military uniform he is expected to wear for his coronation at Westminster Abbey on Saturday.
Drawing gasps, not Snickers, the uncanny likeness was captured after chocolatier Jen and her team studied hours of footage of the King. Posting photos on Instagram, she called it “a right royal feat of art and [Celebrations]”, adding: “This was such a fun project, massive thanks to all for such a top team ef
