As ever, brass gleams and silver shines on the former Royal Yacht Britannia at the port of Leith in Edinburgh as the men and women in her current ‘crew’ clean, polish and prepare for Britannia’s 50th birthday festivities.

At Britannia’s launch exactly 50 years ago today, on April 16, 1953, at the Clydebank shipyard of John Brown & Co, Queen Elizabeth II said: “I am sure that all of you who are present here realise how much the building of this ship meant to the late King, my father.

“He felt most strongly, as I do, that a yacht was a necessity and not a luxury for the Head of our great British Commonwealth, between whose countries the seas is no barrier but the natural and indestructible highway.”

And so HMY Britannia continued the 300-year tradition of Royal Yachts, travelling a distance of over one million nautical miles, carrying members of the Royal Family to 968 official visits at over 600 ports in 135 countries for almost 44 years.

In her time she was under the command of nine admirals and finally one commodore, and during royal tours was manned by 220 Yachtsmen, 21 officers, three season officers and a Royal Marines Band of 26.

December 11, 1997, saw Britannia decommissioned at Portsmouth Naval Base before moving to her current home at Leith in 1998, returning to the Scottish shores from which she was born.

For details of visits to Britannia, call the information line on 0131 555 5566 or visit the website at www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk