New Downton Abbey film features Edinburgh's Royal Yacht Britannia

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Edinburgh's Royal Yacht Britannia features in the new Downton Abbey film. Though it looked like she was sailing on the open sea, the scenes were actually originally filmed against a backdrop of a Debenhams carpark.

The new Downton Abbey: A New Era movie has set the screen alight with its promise of more posh shenanigans and a whirlwind adventure to the South of France.The household are at odds in the sweltering Mediterranean summer and it makes for interesting viewing with a birth, a proposal, a death, a paternity worry, and a health scare.As the Crawleys sail to France they board in style the Royal Yacht Britannia, the luxury sea vessel used by Royal Family for over 40 years, and said by the Queen to be “the one place I can truly relax”.These days the ship is a museum which is permanently moored in Scotland's capital city and as well as seeing the Queen's bedroom, visitors can also enjoy the teak-panelled sun lounge for afternoon tea.Her majesty would have around 45 members of her household on board, as well as five tonnes of luggage, and a Rolls-Royce in tow.Today it sits on a dry dock, but through the beauty of CGI, Imelda Staunton has the sea as a backdrop rather than Debenhams car park.Britannia was built in Clydebank by John Brown & Company who were also behind vessels Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary and launched on April 16, 1953.As one of the last fully-riveted ships with a smooth painted hull, her name was a secret, only revealed when The Queen smashed a bottle of Empire wine (Champagne was too extravagant post-war ) and declared: "I name this ship Britannia… I wish success to her and all who sail in her".She served as the perfect Royal residence, welcoming state visits, official receptions, Royal honeymoons and