“That was in 1970, just as we were crossing the equator.  We always had a bit of a do whenever we crossed the line between the northern and southern hemispheres.  We would …”

          But Chloe wasn’t listening.  In her excitement she was keen to start the visit proper. 

          “Granddad look, I can see the boat.  It’s just around here and …”

          “Hold on young lady,” growled a formidable woman, dressed in a smart black and red uniform, standing beside a kiosk.  “And where do you think you’re going?”

          Chloe froze to the spot and grabbed Jim’s hand for reassurance.  Once her hand was safely inside his, her confidence returned.  Facing the imposing woman, Chloe answered the question.

          “My Granddad is going to show me round this boat,” she said.  “He used to work on it you know.”

          “Did he now?” enquired the official, warming to her a little.  “Well if that’s the case, I hope the first thing he tells you is that this isn’t just any old boat!”  Glancing at Jim, she winked teasingly.  “This was the Queen’s boat, and it’s very special.  It’s called the Royal Yacht Britannia.”

          “Finest Yacht in the world,” declared Jim proudly.

          “Well, if you’re going to go round it, you’ll have to be quick.  There’s a private function taking place in the State Dining Room later on this afternoon.  I’m sure they won’t want any gatecrashers.”

          “That’s all right,” Jim reassured.  “I know my way around.  We can be quick.  My instructions are to keep this little one out of the house for a couple of hours.”

          “Yes, it’s Granddad’s birthday today,” declared Chloe.  “He’s 80 and we’re having a surprise birthday party for him and … oh no!  I didn’t mean to say that,” she said sheepishly.

          “Never mind,” Jim chuckled.  “I knew there was something going on.  But I don’t need an excuse to show my lovely granddaughter around this beautiful yacht.  Come along Chloe, we’d best get a move on, if we’re going to get around it in time.”

          Ruffling the top of her hair, they both laughed and began climbing the five sets of stairs up to the bridge.  Crossing the metal walkway from the Ocean Terminal Building at Leith docks, Jim immediately felt relaxed again as he stepped on board Britannia.  It was as if he was coming home.  As soon as his foot touched the daily washed wooden decks, the memories came flooding back.  He could see his fellow yachtsmen, or ‘yotties’ as they were called, lining the decks in their pristine white sailor suits whenever Britannia gracefully entered a harbour.  It was always a rapturous welcome, and a proud moment for any yottie to experience.

          “Where are all the computers Granddad?”  Chloe enquired, bringing him back to the present.

          Standing on the Bridge of Britannia and glancing around, it seemed and obvious statement for a youngster to make.

          “Computers?  There were no computers in my day.”  Taking another look around he could see how alien this would seem to many a sailor from today’s modern Navy.  Paper charts were laid across desks, instrument panels and dials were pristinely clean and giving accurate readings, and highly polished metal voice pipes connected the Bridge with the Engine Room four decks below.

          “I can see some men cleaning the floor over there,” Chloe sang, leaning out of the doorway on the other side.  Sure enough, as Jim leaned over her, he spied two members of staff with mops and buckets on the Upper Deck, methodically washing it down.

          “Seeing as you’ve told me a secret, let me tell you a secret then,” Jim whispered into her ear.  Putting his arm around her, he encouraged her to follow him round to the next deck below.  “I used to wash those decks everyday when I worked on here.  I always started with the deck outside the Royal quarters because I had to finish them before 8 o’clock in the morning.”

          “Why so early, Granddad?”

          “Because that’s when the Queen got up, and woe betide any sailor seen on her decks after then.”

          “Why, what would happen?”

          “We’d have lost our jobs, that’s what.  But one day, I was cleaning the Verandah Deck, just outside the Queen’s Sun Lounge when I suddenly felt uneasy.  Looking at my watch I saw that it was two minutes past eight, and I could hear footsteps coming through the Sun Lounge.”

          Chloe took a large intake of breath in horror.  “What did you do?  Was it the Queen?”

          “I didn’t wait to find out!  I dashed to the end of the Verandah Deck with my mop and bucket, down some steps to the next deck and hid underneath the stairwell.  I heard the footsteps stop near my head.  Whoever it was, was standing right above me.  I heard them take some deep breaths of clear, sea air, before they turned around and went back inside.

          “Weren’t you scared?”

          “Scared?  I was petrified!”

          “What did you do then?”

          “I waited for a couple more minutes until I was sure that whoever it was had gone away, and then I ran around the Quarter Deck, ducking down low whenever I went past a porthole to avoid being seen by someone inside.  It’s the closest I’ve ever been to getting the sack.  Thankfully, no one saw me and now you’re the only person who knows that secret.  Grandma doesn’t even know that one.”

          “Cor!” said Chloe, delighted to have one up on Grandma.  “This is posh Granddad.  Did you used to work in here?”

          Jim cast his eyes around the Admiral’s Suite.  Soft, comfortable sofas, relaxing armchairs, and a wooden display cabinet with glass panel doors.  No.  No yottie ever saw the light of day in here.  In fact the earliest opportunity Jim had to see this room was the first time he visited Britannia as a member of the public.

          Hand in hand, Jim took Chloe around the Royal Apartments.  “See that desk there,” said Jim pointing to a green leather topped counter against the wall.  “That’s where the Queen did all her paperwork.  Do you know, wherever we were in the world, a boat or a helicopter would come to Britannia every day to bring the Queen some of those huge red boxes with all the Government’s official documents  for her to look at and sign.”

          “Wow,” declared Chloe, clearly impressed.  “It looks quite cosy in there,” she said, pressing her nose against the glass.

          Jim nodded in agreement, but that was Britannia all over.  A country house at sea was what the Queen had wanted, and that’s what she achieved.  Britannia wasn’t palatial with gold dripping from every chandelier and curtain drape.  She was comfortable, cosy and welcoming.

          Walking around the galleys, Jim pulled his granddaughter to a halt outside one of the open doors, and with his hands squarely on her shoulders, forced her to look inside.

          “It’s a cupboard,” Chloe moaned.  “It’s all plates and bowls.”

          “It’s not any old cupboard though,” Jim grinned.  “This was called the Jelly room, because this is where they made the jellies for Princes Charles, Andrew and Edward and Princess Anne when they were your age.  And their children called it the Jelly room too.”

          “We’re having jelly at your surprise party Granddad,” Chloe said excitedly before throwing a hand up over her mouth.

          “You’re not very good at this secrecy lark are you?” Jim chuckled.  He watched Chloe crimson with embarrassment, before she turned away to continue their tour.  Shaking his head in despair, Jim followed her to the end of the narrow and spotless corridor, before they entered a large hallway, stretching from one side of the yacht to the other.  Ahead of them was a pair of solid wooden doors.

          “What’s through here then, Granddad?” Chloe asked, stretching a hand out and grabbing the handle.

          “Don’t open that!” Jim ordered fiercely. 

Chloe’s hand shot back to her side in fear. 

“That’s the State Dining Room.  It was used for very special functions, when the Queen entertained world leaders and other Kings and Queens.  I don’t think we can go in there today if the doors are shut.  They’re probably preparing it for the private function that woman was telling us about earlier.  You have to be very special to be able to hire that room.”

          “But Granddad,” Chloe whined, “I want to have a look.”

          “Well you can’t.  Come on, let’s go out through here on to the deck.”  Grabbing her hand, Jim took Chloe outside, and together they leant against the balustrade looking out over the Firth of Forth.

          He took a deep breath, and slowly released it.  It was like putting on a comfy pair of slippers.  He’d been a yottie since the 1950’s and had loved every minute of it.  Sailors on Britannia weren’t paid any extra money, but that didn’t matter, it was a privilege to work on this very special yacht.  As the sound of the water lapping at the sides of Britannia lulled Jim with a rhythm he’d heard so many times, more memories lapped into his conscious.  Memories of the times when the Queen went ashore, and they could relax for a couple of hours, sunbathing on the deck at the stern.  And on some of the private Royal holidays, occasionally a royal figure would suddenly appear in one of the Messes, where Jim and his friends would relax in the evening when they were off duty.  He admired the Royal family for that.  They always knew when to leave them alone to let their hair down, and when to pop by very informally to pass on their personal thanks, for all their hard work.  Jim and his colleagues always knew that they were appreciated.

          “Do you know Chloe, there was a time when …”

          However Chloe wasn’t there anymore.

          Spinning around, Jim looked both ways along the wooden deck, but he couldn’t see her anywhere.  Then he noticed that the door back into the hallway was ajar.  Stepping through, fear engulfed him as he noticed one of the wooden doors into the State Dining Room was not completely shut.  Dreading Chloe’s disobedience, he whispered her name.

          “Chloe?  Chloe, are you in there?  Come out at once!”

          Tiptoeing quietly across the beige carpet, Jim edged closer to the door.  It was only just off its catch, but the gap wasn’t big enough to see through.

          “Chloe, will you come out,” Jim hissed one more time.  There was no reply.  Heart thumping, just as it had all those years ago when he’d hidden under the Verandah Deck stairs from those royal footsteps, he realised that he was going to have to step inside and pull Chloe out.  Fearing who else might be in there, Jim screwed shut his eyes and with a very shaky hand, pushed the State Dining Room door open.  As it swung open, Jim tentatively peeked inside.

          “SURPRISE!” came a chorused cheer. 

          Eyes wide open in amazement, Jim, couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  Suddenly Chloe came running up to him with a small bowl of jelly in her hands.

          “See Granddad, I told you we were having jelly at your surprise birthday party, didn’t I?  I might have told you some of the surprise, but I was really good at not telling you where we were having your party, wasn’t I?”  She grinned as she popped another spoonful of jelly into her mouth.

          “We didn’t know if she could keep it all a secret,” said Hannah as she linked her arm through Jim’s and kissed him on the cheek, “so we told her that there were certain things she could tell you if she couldn’t keep it all a secret.  Sometimes a secret should be shared fully and sometimes it shouldn’t, don’t you think?  Happy Birthday darling,” she wished.

          Gripping hold of his wife’s hand, Jim was overwhelmed to see his entire family around that famous mahogany table with the Hepplewhite chairs, all raising their glasses.

          “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”, they all cheered.

          “Allow me to introduce myself,” said a voice from behind.  Turning around, Jim came face to face with a rather distinguished gentleman in full naval uniform.  Startled at seeing such a high ranking officer on board, let alone at his 80^th birthday party, Jim didn’t catch his full name.  All he could remember were the words ‘Rear Admiral’.  But it didn’t seem to matter because something more important was being thrust into his hands.  It was an envelope with his name on.

          Turning it over, Jim spotted the Buckingham Palace emblem on the lip straight away.  Pulling it open, he unfurled it to reveal a birthday card with a picture of Britannia, anchored in a Caribbean blue sea.  With immense difficulty because his hands were shaking so much with nerves, Jim opened the card to reveal a very personal message.

          To James Mackenzie

          Congratulations on your 80^th birthday.  I hope you enjoy your celebrations with your family on Britannia, as much as I always enjoyed mine.  Britannia is a boat we both grew to love over the years and the memories will always be with us.

Happy Birthday.

Elizabeth R

          Shocked at receiving such a personal message from Her Majesty, he had to read it twice before he realised that there was another message at the very bottom of the card.  It read:

P.S.  Have you stood under the stairs of the Verandah Deck recently for old time’s sake? 

Jim clasped a hand over his mouth in shock.  So she had seen him after all!

“What does it say Granddad?” squealed Chloe.

Jim closed the card and replaced it in the envelope before tucking it inside his jacket pocket.  Winking at Chloe, he tapped the side of his nose with his finger.  There are some secrets that should be shared fully, and some that should be kept back.  And this part of the secret, was one that Jim wanted to keep all to himself.

 THE END