Lot Essay
The Royal Yacht Britannia, built to replace the ageing Victoria & Albert III of 1901, was launched by H.M. The Queen in April 1953 and completed for sea in the spring of 1954. After over forty years as the distinctive symbol of the new Elizabethan Age which created her, she was sadly decommissioned in 1997 after lingering political controversy over her running costs. For further details of this remarkable vessel, see the notes accompanying lot 205 in this catalogue.