Words: Rory FH Smith
Though navies are still considered the de facto sign of a country’s military might, yachts are the ultimate indication of a sovereign’s wealth and standing, serving up soft power and international status in spades. With this in mind, here’s our shortlist of the most luxurious vessels owned by the world’s royal families.
Norge, Norway
Image: Liv Anette Luane
Given as a rather generous gift by the people of Norway to King Haakon VII for his 75th birthday, Norge has been the floating palace of the Norwegian royal family ever since. Previously named Philante, and originally commissioned by aviation pioneer Sir Thomas Sopwith as a support yacht for his America’s Cup challenge, the 80-metre vessel was bought in 1947 for £111,492 (£5.6m in today’s money). Following a refit and renovation, the king used the yacht to visit communities along the coast of Norway and to travel abroad. However, following a fire during a refit in 1985, the majority of the yacht was lost, with only the hull and engines remaining relatively intact. Refusing to let the flames stand in the way of fun, King Olav, who had inherited the ship, decided to rebuild it to a better standard than before. Still used by the royal family, Norge is the floating home of King Harald when travelling overseas for state visits and is also his base when competing in major yacht races.
Britannia, UK
Image: Getty
Let’s continue this lavish list with one of the greatest yachts of all. Built by the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, for the late Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the same year she was crowned, Britannia fast became an ocean-going icon. With more than a million miles under her belt, she took the former monarch and her family on 968 official royal visits and hosted hundreds of dignitaries, from Sir Winston Churchill to Boris Yeltsin and Nelson Mandela, as well as 13 US presidents. Queen Elizabeth once declared that Britannia was “the one place where I can truly relax”. The craft provided a means for her and the Windsors to escape from the prying eyes of the press. Four royal honeymoons took place aboard, including the 1981 Mediterranean trip taken by King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, and Diana, Princess of Wales.
In line with the post-war austerity that was inescapable in the 1950s, Elizabeth scaled back the interior, opting for simple white walls, lilac-grey carpeting, and “a bit of gilding in grand places”. Inside, trinkets and gifts – such as a wood-carved shark from Pitcairn Island, a bejewelled gold statue from Bangkok and a whale rib found by her husband – were on display. Other nifty features were a sunroom (Elizabeth’s favourite), a garage built to house the royal Rolls-Royce and a 56-seat state dining room. Britannia was decommissioned in Portsmouth on 11th December 1997, with the late Queen shedding a tear. Today, it is a visitor attraction moored in Edinburgh. Every clock on board reads 3:01, the exact time Queen Elizabeth made her final disembarkment.
Al Raya, Bahrain
Image: Getty
Built by German shipyard Lürssen, Al Raya was originally created for Russian metal and mining mogul Alisher Usmanov under the name Dilbar. In 2018, she was reportedly bought by the royal family of Bahrain and renamed Al Raya. At 110 metres, Al Raya, designed by Tim Heywood, is one of 70 yachts in the world that come in at over 100 metres. The interior, the work of Alberto Pinto, is said to feature floor-to-ceiling glass, a helipad, a pool, a cinema, a sauna, a steam room, a massage room and even a hospital. As is the case with many of the Middle Eastern-owned yachts, details are sparse, but Al Raya is believed to have room for up to 16 guests and 20 crew members.
Opera, UAE
New on the superyacht scene is Opera, a 146-metre Lürssen-built goliath believed to belong to Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates. Some jobs in politics pay better than others, it seems. Opera’s exterior and interior were designed by Terence Disdale. Confirmed details are thin, but sightings of the yacht soon after she was launched revealed floor-to-ceiling glass across six guest decks, as well as two helipads, a beach club and a 10-metre stone-lined pool aft of the main deck, where the pool floor rises to form a dance floor, naturally.
Azzam, Abu Dhabi
Image: Getty
The largest privately owned superyacht in the world, Azzam was built by Lürssen in 2013 for Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi’s royal family. The 180-metre vessel is also one of the world’s fastest yachts – as fast as a navy frigate – with twin motors, waterjets and boosters producing nothing short of 97,000hp. At full tilt, the craft consumes 13 tonnes of fuel per hour, which is surely no problem for the ruler of an oil state. Azzam has living space for 36 guests and as many as 80 crew, and features a gym, a pool and a special ‘golf training room’. At its heart lies a vast open-plan main saloon, 29 metres long by 18 metres wide, with full height windows. The interior’s mother-of-pearl detailing required a year’s worth of global production – and the boat is engineered so the chandeliers don’t rattle, even at full speed.
Katara, Qatar
Another from Lürssen, Katara was delivered in 2010, reportedly to the Qatari royal family. Slightly more slab-sided than the other royal crafts in this list, Katara is noted for her lack of outdoor space, suggesting her onboard swimming pools and facilities are hidden away indoors, out of sight. While Espen Oeino took care of the design, the interior fit-out was the work of Alberto Pinto, with enough room for 34 guests and a sizable crew of 95. The yacht’s name is derived from Catara, the first name given to the Qatar peninsula in 150AD, and reinforces her royal Qatari ownership, as does the Qatari flag she sails under.
Dannebrog, Denmark
Image: Getty
In stark contrast is Dannebrog. The floating private residence of the Danish royal family for nearly a century, the yacht was built by Orlogsvaerftet in Copenhagen, in 1931. The interior includes the queen’s study, a dining room, a lounge, and bedrooms that feature furniture and fittings from the previous royal vessel. Former King Frederick IX took his showers on the boat’s bridge, where he was hosed down al fresco. To date, the 78.4-metre Dannebrog has clocked up nearly 800,000 miles, from Greenland and the Faroes to the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
Serene, Saudi Arabia
What does every leader of a desert state require? A snow room, of course; which is possibly why Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud (better known as MBS), crown prince and prime minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, purchased Serene from Russian vodka tycoon Yuri Shefler in 2015 for a reported £400m. Serene, the first vessel from Italian shipyard Fincantieri, is equipped with two helipads, seven swimming pools, an underwater viewing room, a health spa – including that all important snow room – an outdoor cinema and a nightclub. In 2019, it emerged that the yacht carries the world’s second most expensive artwork – Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi. During a period when she was available to charter, Bill Gates reportedly rented her for a week in 2014, for a fee just short of £4m. A 100-metre submersible is also stashed aboard.
Pacha III, Monaco
Image: Getty
Bucking the trend for big yachts, Pacha III is a pocket-sized 36-metre-long vessel belonging to Princess Caroline of Monaco, also Princess of Hanover, the eldest child of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, and Grace Kelly. Launched in 1936 and since renamed, Pacha III is decked out in teak, varnished mahogany and gleaming bronze details that are sympathetic to the period in which she was created. Straw-yellow furniture, striped carpet and porthole windows complete the cosy, period look as a floating holiday home for Princess Caroline and her children.
Dubai, UAE
No prizes for guessing which royal family owns the world’s third-largest superyacht, the creatively named Dubai. Another shiny-white example of sovereign spending, Dubai was commissioned by Prince Jefri of Brunei back in 1995, but the project was suspended a few years later, with a bare hull and partially complete superstructure. The Dubai government picked it up in 1998 and made it their own with the help of yacht builder Platinum. Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum ofx Dubai, the superyacht – rumoured to cost around £400,000 when it finally hit the seas in 2006 – showcases a 21.3-metre-wide atrium, a swimming pool, a cinema, an onboard nightclub and a landing platform fit for a military-grade Blackhawk helicopter. Oh, and a garage for the yacht’s very own submarine.
This feature was taken from our Spring 2024 issue. Read more about it here.
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