Royal Yacht Britannia

This morning we headed off in taxis to the Leith Harbour where we went on board the Royal Yacht Britannia for a private tour. The yacht was originally built in 1952 for King George VI but became the yacht of Queen Elizabeth II after his death. This meant that the Queen had a say in the way that the interior was decorated - the original plans for the interior were too ostentatious and she desired a more simple look.
It was decommissioned in 1997 so is no longer in use by the Royal family.
Having a private tour meant that we could walk through each room, whereas some areas are roped off for the public.
There are photos of the Royal Family onboard the yacht in each room, and each photo is signed with the Royal’s name.
The tour guide said that it was a popular vessel for honeymoons - Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Andrew and Sarah, and Charles and Diana all had their honeymoons onboard the yacht.
After the tour we had scones and tea on the deck which was nice.

The photo below is of the Queen’s bedroom, followed by Prince Philip’s bedroom and then the one used by Charles and Diana.

Beginning of OPP

Sunday afternoon was the beginning of the Open Palace Programme. Everyone met at the apartments we’re staying in and there was an introduction followed by a welcome tea. There are mostly Australians, a few Americans and New Zealanders. I’m the only guy which I don’t mind.
The first item on the itinerary yesterday was a guided tour of Edinburgh. The town is scattered with monuments of notable men - two we saw yesterday were of George IV and the writer Sir Walter Scott.
The tour guide informed us that Edinburgh comprises of two towns - the old town which dates from around 1100 and the new town from 1760s. He said that Edinburgh draws more tourists than any other city in Great Britain except for London.
We walked up to Edinburgh Castle - it was very misty and overcast at this stage so the views of the city were a bit obstructed.
The tour guide said that Edinburgh Castle is the 2nd most famous Castle in Great Britain, followed by Windsor Castle. It was where King James, son of Mary Queen of Scots, was born and he inherited it from Queen Elizabeth I.
I noticed that there was quite a lot of focus on Harry Potter during the tour because it was in Edinburgh that JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter so he said that one of the tourist attractions is the cafe she sat in.
After the tour, a group of us went to a pub for a warm lunch to defrost. Everyone was really cold - the weather was forecast to be 13 degrees but one of the girls looked it up and it said 8 degrees.
Then I went back to the castle with a few of the girls to have a proper look by which the sun was starting to come out which was nice.
We also came across a lady holding a cute baby owl named Haggis and each of us got a photo with it.

First couple of days in Edinburgh

After two long flights, I arrived into Edinburgh on Saturday afternoon. I decided to watch Mary Queen of Scots on the plane to get some historical background. Even though the film actually isn’t that accurate according to the reviews, they filmed at some of the locations we’re going to (such as Holyrood Palace).
I walked around Edinburgh and took some photos.

Yesterday morning I went to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery - there was an older section with portraits of Queen Victoria and Mary Queen of Scots, but also a contemporary section which included David Tennant, Alan Cumming, Tilda Swinton and Queen Elizabeth II.

Hi everyone,
Welcome to my blog for Round 2 of the Open Palace Programme! I will be posting some content soon.
Here’s a link to the Open Palace Programme website which contains the itinerary if you’re interested in learning more.
https://www.openpalaceprogramme.com/scottish-itinerary