The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-29
ENGLAND'S ROYAL YACHT.
THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT COST
Sc 900 900.
uhe THIRD OF That Name Mahogany and
Silver and Silken HanglnBs for the
King AMI Queen-A Rear Admiral in
ComInand-Queen VictorIa's Yacht.

u lfbA" w htheh aNetNNO eiNA
Silver and Silken HanElngs for the
King and Queen-A Rear Admiral I'm
Command-Queen VictorIa's Yacht.
The royal yacht Of England, the Victoria
and Albert, cost the pretty sum of 5000 900.
She was launched in May, 1899, with the
present Princess OF Wales as sponsor.
She is 400 feet long. Her engines are
OF II, 900 horsepower and she mas n speed
Of about twenty miles an hour. Her coal
supply will carry her from England to the
Riviera.
Tho fittings and decorations are quietly
rich and sumptuous. Even on the upper
deck, says Harper's Bazor, solid silver
l. used for the deck fittings,
All the apartments are panelled in
enamelled white, while the necessary
warmth of color is obtained in the furni-
ture, carpets and draperies. In the Kings
private stateroon the carpet is a rich
blue, which we'll matches the blue morocco
Of the chairs. All the furniture here is of
grained mahogany, slightly inlaid with other
woods.
Az to the Kings bedroom, it is severely
simple, with its swinging bedstead Of silver
plate. without draperies; its satinwood
furniture, silver plated metal work and
specially woven carpet.
Til Queens bedroom is much larger
than the Kings. II is a mode Of grace and
beauty with Its white panelling Inc stately
canopied bed suspended from the ceiling.
The furniture is of dainty grained satin
wood with silver fittings.
The color scheme il a soft green. The
~coverlet of the bed has an elaborate mono
gram surmounted by a crown. Queen
A~leXandra'S dressing room is a large apart
ment with a bath of jasper and dressing
tables of inlaid satinwood with front and
side mirrors, in addition to an enormous
cheval glass forming a movable panel in
the wall.
Opposite the royal sleeping apartments
Is the dra wing room. The walls are, Of
course, panelled in white; the furniture is
of haud painted satinwoed, and the hang
ings of blue silk.
In one corner is a pedestal writing table,
fianked bv two small semi-circular tables;
and opposite the big yet homelike fire
place is a grand piano. Bookcases and
lounge seats max the dra wing room a de-
lightful retreat in rough weather.
The state dining room is an apartment
of noble dimensions, occupying one-third
of the vessels length, and lighted by no
fewer than t~wenty-six windows and two
large skylights. From floor to ceiling it
is anel!ed in white, accented with a plaster
treatment of great b~nautyand deliclcy.
over can be laid here for thirty guests.
The smoking room is close by.
The grand staircase leads from the re-
oeption room vi TO the state deck, most of
which is occupied by the royal apartments,
including a private dining room. An
electric elevator assuages the trials of
seasick royalties.
There is also a well appointed hospital
and ~dispensary down below, where a titled
physician presides over the health of the
The yacht is commanded by a Rear
Admiral and he has a crew of go men. The
officers are selected from the best in the
navy, ~
commissioned ship, she never fires a salute,
not aver in reply to the guns Of foreign
warships. II she is at anchor, the guard
ship of the port answers for her. If at sea
her cruiser escort replies.
The present royal yacht Is not the first
Victoria and Albert that has flown the
royal standard. Her earliest predecessor
was an Insignificant paddle wheel auxiliary
yacht, with a big spread of canvas to help
her engines to a poor twelve knots. She
was broken up in 1868, but in 1855 was super
seeded by the late Queens Victoria and
Albert, to which Queen Victoria was almost
fanatically attached.
Here again was a huge paddle wheel
yacht, quantity honeycombed with cabins,
staterooms, boudoirs and the like TO ao-
c~ommodate the extensive family md aged
retainers of the old Queen. For when
Queen Victoria went to sea she usually tool
her entire family with her, so that the big
craft became a kind of floating nursery.
The decorations were extremely old
fashioned, the walls of chintz being covered
with long lines OF pink flowers on a white
background-exactly the pattern one comes
across to-day in emOto English farm
houses of the beaten track Of the railroad,
far from modern innovations.
Yet on no account would the late Queen
permit alterations, either structural or
decorative, and to the last the old V. and A,
as it was called, remained exactly as it
was in the days Of the Prince Consort.
During the last few years of Queen Vic
toria's life her grown up family and their
relatives were constantly complaining of
the inconvenient accommodation on the
royal yacht; and at length the Queen re-
luctantly consented to the building of the
present vessel. Nevertheless, Queen Vic
toria never so much as went on board, for
all her affections were centred on the Old
fashioned ~yacht-which, by the way, was
finally broken up in the Portsmouth dock