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After more than two years of waiting, Season 5 of The Crown has made its way to Netflix and fans have already been sinking their teeth into the series, with all 10 episodes available to watch in one go.
Episode 1 is titled 'Queen Victoria Syndrome' and sees the future of the monarchy as the world knew it in jeopardy, with British public opinion allegedly dissatisfied with the institution.
In The Crown, the Queen, played by Imelda Staunton, is blissfully unaware of the discontent as Royal staffers and family attempt to protect her from the news.
Therefore, when she asks Prime Minister John Major (Jonny Lee Miller) for her treasured yacht, the Britannia, to undergo a refurbishment, which would cost the public millions, she cannot understand Major's reluctance to put the idea to the government.
Now, Newsweek has everything you need to know about the Queen's beloved yacht, HMY Britannia.
What Happened to Britannia?
Her Majesty's Yacht Britannia, also known as the Royal Yacht Britannia, and built by Scottish shipbuilding firm John Brown & Company Ltd in Clydebank, Dunbartonshire, and was launched on April 16, 1953, by Queen Elizabeth II.
Her maiden voyage was from Portsmouth to Grand Harbour, Malta in April 1954, with Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison) on board.
The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh (Jonathan Pryce) made their first journey on Britannia to Tobruk, Libya on May 1, 1954.
In total, Britannia sailed for 43 years, ending its time at sea on December 11, 1997. In total, she is thought to have traveled more than a million nautical miles around the world's oceans.
Today, Britannia is permanently berthed at the Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland. Members of the public are able to visit the marvelous yacht as well as the racing yacht, Bloodhound, once owned by the Queen and Prince Philip.
In The Crown Season 5, the Queen and Prince Philip are seen asking Conservative PM Major to approve a £14.745 million refurbishment.
In Episode 1, Major tells the Queen and Philip that spending public money on the yacht at the time of a global recession would not bode well with the general public and as a result, have detrimental effects on the monarchy and the government.
Nevertheless, in The Crown, the Queen demands that the government sign off on the repairs, with Major feeling pressure to agree.
However, in 1994, the Conservative Government announced the yacht's official retirement, citing costs of over £17 million to only extend the yacht's life for five more years.
Then in 1997, with a general election on the horizon, the Conservative government announced they would recommission the yacht if they were re-elected. However, Labour won the election and declined to recommission the Britannia.
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 of China.
At its decommissioning ceremony in Portsmouth on December 11, 1997, the Queen and was spotted shedding a tear (see below).
Britannia's Notable Moments
Britannia was designed to transform into a hospital ship in the event of a war, but this purpose was never required. Britannia was also intended for the Queen and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh to take refuge in the event of a nuclear war.
It could host 250 guests and was manned by 21 officers from the Royal Navy and 250 Royal Yachtsmen.
Following its maiden voyage, Britannia sailed Saint Lawrence Seaway on the way to Chicago where she docked, making the Queen the first British monarch to visit the U.S. city of Chicago.
Prince Charles and his wife Princess Diana traveled on the Brittania for their honeymoon cruise in 1981, sailing around the Mediterranean and Greek Islands. Several U.S. presidents also visited the Britannia, including Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton.
On January 17, 1986, the ship evacuated over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Aden, Yemen, with the yacht's drawing rooms used as a temporary dormitory.
On average, Britannia has over 300,000 visitors per year, breaking records in 2018 with 390,848 attendees.
The Crown Season 5 is streaming on Netflix now.
About the writer
Molli Mitchell is a Senior SEO TV and Film Newsweek Reporter based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on ... Read more