Royal Yacht Britannia - the surprising link with one of my craft kit suppliers!
⛴We had a fantastic family day in Edinburgh at the weekend - trains, buses, cake - all the things little children love. But the highlight was visiting The Royal Yacht Britannia. Shamefully, I’ve never been on it despite living in and around Edinburgh for ever. We thought it would be fun for the girls - and it was!
🪡Once I found out the embroidery above the Queen’s Bed had been especially commissioned, I knew I wanted to tell you all about it. I’ve just been researching it and it’s quite astonishing that it was designed by Joan Nicholson - who happens to be the mother of one of my suppliers, Nancy Nicholson! Now, what are the chances of that?!
🕸Here are excerpts from Nancy’s blog below. Also have a look at her blog for more photos - taken much more professionally than mine 😂-
'Though she was commissioned to do the design, it was then given to the Royal School of Needlework to embroider, very finely in silks.
"The silk embroidered panels were designed and created in 1953 and were the inspiration of Joan Nicholson, a young British designer, chosen by Sir Hugh Casson (HM The Queen’s chosen designer for Britannia’sState Apartments)."
“"The Queen wanted the embroidery to remind her of home when she was traveling abroad, with hedgerows, wild flowers and butterflies. Ivory silk from France was chosen for the background and it took several skilled workers many months to complete at the Royal School of Needlework in London. "
Isn't it just a wonderful story!
