Crew member from HMY Britannia recalls his time on board with the Queen

Barry Spencer from Portchester spent 12 years on the HMY Britannia yacht, taking the royals on family holidays and trips.

Barry was a marine engineer on board of the yacht where he was appointed to his role through previous naval positions and got to meet various members of the royal family.

He said that his fondest memory on board the yacht was when he met the Queen for the first time which he said was a situation full of ‘panic’ and ‘shock’.

Whilst organising equipment one morning, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, the Queen standing on the deck looking out to sea, where she then began to approach him.

He stood to attention and although, panicked, the Queen held a conversation with him about his duties and his home town.

He said: ‘She walked back off down the deck and left me stunned and I was not sure if it had actually happened, it was surreal and that is the memory that I will never forget.

‘It is a great shame, we were all shocked when she died. It was quite a tearful evening for me when my wife called and told me the news.

‘She devoted her life and it was just a sad moment that her time had come.’

The HMY Britannia was in service between 1954 until 1997 and was the Royal yacht for the British Monarchy. It sailed over 1,000,000 nautical miles and is now docked in Edinburgh where it is a popular attraction to visit.

The famous yacht was launched from the John Brown and Company shipyard in Scotland in 1953 and provide a ‘a floating hotel’ for the Queen and her family whilst they travelled across the globe.

The yacht saw 220 dedicated crew members and within that number saw Barry, who dedicated twelve years of his life to serve on the glamorous ship where he bore witness to many royal occasions.

He is planning to travel to London to be there on Monday alongside other Britannia crew members to pay their respects to Her Majesty.