Queen Elizabeth showed the public a rare moment when she cried in front of a lot of people during a ceremony to say goodbye to the "Emblem of Great Britain." This happened in 1997 when the royal yacht Britannia was decommissioned after 44 years.
According to royal expert Nina Myscow, the decommissioning of the yacht was a "big personal blow" to Queen Elizabeth. She spent a lot of her childhood in Britannia and she had many memories aboard the yacht with her family.
Here, Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and their children could truly enjoy themselves because it was not always possible for the media or the public to follow them when the boat sailed. The decommissioning was a personal thing for Her Majesty hence she could not help but shed a tear.
From 1954 until 1997, the royals also used Britannia to do business and welcome dignitaries. According to another expert Jeremy Vine, the yacht was also a representation of the image of the U.K.
The decision to retire the vessel happened after Labour won the 1997 elections due to its cost. Now permanently stationed in Edinburgh, Britannia has become a tourist attraction visited by 300,000 people very year. It is also used as an event's place. The Queen's granddaughter, Zara, actually had her low-key drinking reception at the Britiannia when she married Mike Tindall in 2011.
The other time Queen Elizabeth cried in public was during Remembrance Day in November 2002, which happened in the year she lost both the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret. The two royals passed away within a month of each other.
At the 2019 Remembrance Day, Queen Elizabeth was also spotted wiping her eyes. It's unclear why she cried, however, royal fans speculated that it could be due to Prince Philip's health.
Interestingly, Lady Pamela, who formerly served the Queen as her lady-in-waiting, said that Queen Elizabethlearned to control her emotions all these years. She was taught not to cry in public, nor show boredom and tiredness.
Meanwhile, following a difficult 2019, Queen Elizabeth will address the nation on Christmas Day. Royal expert Penny Junor said that while she won't mention the word "Annus Horribilis" similar to her devastating year in 1992, Queen Elizabeth will likely reflect on the same theme for her Christmas speech.
Annus Horribilis was how she describe the year her children's marriages collapsed, creating a wave of controversy. This year, the royal family also experienced a number of scandals with the alleged rift between Prince William and Prince Harry, the problems with the Sussex royals adjusting to the media scrutiny, and Prince Andrew's controversy with his friendship with the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
