As the summer holiday draws to close the royal mystery surrounding the Prince and Princess of Wales‘ Greek getaway has finally been solved.
In July, Prince William and his family travelled to the idyllic Ionian islands on a luxury yacht.
It is understood they travelled to Kefalonia as well as the tiny island of Ithaca and nearby Zakynthos.
While it was established where the Waleses were holidaying, there remained wild speculation about whose yacht they were travelling on.
First there were claims the family were staying on a £340million megayacht owned by a prominent member of the UAE royal family. Followed by claims they were aboard the £40million Almax. These were also proved false.
But yesterday, the Mail on Sunday revealed that the family instead stayed on The Lady Beatrice – a £20million yacht currently owned by British financier and entrepreneur Peter Dubens.
Yachts have been at the centre of many of the Royal Family’s most iconic holidays. From the Royal Yacht, to Charles’ trips with a Greek shipping mogul, Daily Mail look back at some of the Royals many yachting holidays.
The Prince and Princess of Wales with their children Louis, Charlotte and George. The family enjoyed a Greek holiday this summer
The Lady Beatrice where the Waleses reportedly holidayed
Although it was decommissioned nearly 30 years ago, the Royal Yacht Britannia remains an icon of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s reign where it travelled over one million nautical miles.
Although it was used for official royal tours, such as a trip to mark the American bicentennial in 1977, Britannia was described by the late Queen as the one place in the world she felt she could truly relax.
As such plenty of family holidays were taken on the yacht in its 43 years of service.
Almost every summer saw the Queen travelling to the Cowes Week regatta off the Isle of Wight, and then on to Scotland for the Royal Family’s holiday in Balmoral.
The late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip on the Britannia yacht in 1977. It was described by Elizabeth as the one place in the world she felt she could truly relax
Elizabeth and Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh on the yacht in 1995. Plenty of family holidays were taken on the yacht in its 43 years of service
Charles and Diana on Britannia during their honeymoon in 1981
The royal yacht (pictured) was decommissioned in 1997
Charles and Diana also honeymooned aboard the yacht with the newlyweds allegedly organising for a double bed to placed in their room instead of the traditional single beds.
When the yacht was decommissioned by Tony Blair in 1997 Queen Elizabeth’s love for Britannia was visible on her face. As during the decommissioning ceremony, Elizabeth appeared very upset and even appeared to be crying.
There were mutterings during final years of the last Tory government that a new royal yacht would be commissioned before former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt cancelled the project as part of his spending cuts.
Today, Prince William is keen to make sure his family trips remain private.
But, while the Prince was growing up, Charles and Diana were pictured in their swimsuits in remarkably intimate and candid shots.
One of the most famous yachting holidays taken by the couple was their trip visit to Majorca in 1986.
Diana dives into the sea off the back of the King of Spain’s yacht while on holiday in Majorca
Charles enjoying some windsurfing while on holiday in Majorca on King of Spain’s yacht in 1986
They were invited by the King of Spain – Juan Carlos I – to visit the popular tourist destination where they reportedly visited its most popular resorts including Palma and Cala Major – where the Spanish Royal Family’s summer residence is located.
This is in stark contrast to Wills most recent trip to Greece where the Daily Mail has learned that not once during the sailing trip did the royals set foot on any of the islands.
Pictures that emerged from the trip suggest it was a holiday Charles and Diana enjoyed. In one image, Diana could be seen diving off the side of the Spanish yacht into the sea.
Meanwhile, on the same trip, Charles was spotted enjoying a spot of windsurfing.
Throughout the 1990s, Charles enjoyed a number of excursions on the Alexander yacht which was owned by Greek shipping mogul – and Charles’ friend – John Latsis.
One famous holiday aboard the ship was Charles and Diana’s trip to Italy in 1991.
The excursion was dubbed their ‘second honeymoon’ as it came shortly after the couple celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.
Sailing along the coast of Italy, the royals enjoyed the splendour of the Alexander – which at the time was the third biggest yacht in the world – where they were joined by the former King and Queen of Greece, Constantine and Anne-Marie, as well as Prince Charles’s cousin, Lord Romsey, and his wife, Lady Penelope and all their children.
Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Prince William boarding the Alexander yacht during their 10th wedding anniversary holiday
Alexander yacht was owned by the Greek shipping mogul John Latsis
In 2008, Charles and Camilla embarked on a royal tour of the Caribbean where they travelled on the yacht Leander to destinations such as Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago
While the press dubbed the trip a ‘happy family holiday’, Charles and Diana would separate just over a year later in December 1992 and from what is known now their marriage was very much on the rocks by the summer of 1991.
Eight years later, Camilla joined Charles for a family holiday on the Alexander around the Aegean.
A young William and Harry also joined Charles and Camilla on what Richard Kay at the Daily Mail described at the time as ‘the most significant development in their [Charles and Camilla’s] relationship since their “coming-out” photocall on the steps of the Ritz Hotel’ where they officially announced their relationship.
The King’s relationship with Latsis – who died in 2003 – was sometimes criticised due to his questionable past which included his support for the Greek military dictatorship in the 1970s.
Charles also travelled on the Alexander during his religious pilgrimage to the Holy and Great Monastery of Vatopedi.
The monastery, situated on Mount Athos in northern Greece, is one of the most holy sites in for Orthodox Christians and all women are banned from visiting the peninsula.
The King visited the monastery in April 1998 where he followed all the rules that dictated how the celibate monks live their day to day lives.
This included sitting down in silence for morning and evening meals where one monk read sacred text and praying for hours at a time.
Charles at the end of his stay on Mount Athos. The King took a pilgrimage to the site in 1998
The Alexander yacht on which Charles travelled to Mount Athos
Writing in her biography about Charles – titled Charles the Misunderstood Prince – author Sally Bedell Smith explained why the King enjoys his time at Mount Athos.
‘Withdrawing to Mount Athos, even for a few days, allowed the prince to disconnect from his everyday world, reconnect with the natural order, and immerse himself in timeless rituals.’
Since his visit in 1998, Charles has returned to the pilgrimage site on numerous occasions.
After her divorce from Charles in 1996, Princess Diana would continue to take yachting holidays.
Her most notorious trip would tragically become her last when she spent the summer of 1997 sailing around southern Europe with Mohamed al Fayed and his son Dodi al Fayed.
At Mohamed’s invitation Diana travelled to the south of France, with William and Harry, in July that year for a week away at his home in Saint-Tropez and on his private yacht.
Diana aboard Mohammed al Fayed’s yacht, The Jonikal, in Saint Tropez
Diana on another one of Al Fayed’s boats called Saxara, in the summer of 1997
Diana sunbathing on the diving board off the coast of Italy
It was on this holiday that the Princess met Dodi and a romance soon blossomed.
Diana enjoyed the break. The Princess was pictured smiling and enjoying herself aboard the luxury vessel and Harry would write in his memoir, Spare, that ‘everything about that trip to St. Tropez was heaven’.
A month later, Diana returned to the French Riviera and spent more time with Dodi travelling to Corsica and Sardinia on his yacht.
The pair were soon photographed together leading to a summer of speculation in the media about what their relationship was. The Daily Mail ran a headline on August 7 which read ‘Diana’s cruise with playboy Dodi’.
It was during this fateful holiday that Princess Diana was snapped sitting at the end of the yacht’s diving board.
In 2006, William and Kate holidayed on the Balearic island of Ibiza while they were courting.
While staying on the party island, the future Prince and Princess of Wales were pictured sunbathing together on the bow of a yacht.
A young William and Kate on holiday in Ibiza in 2006
During this holiday, they were invited to stay at Kate’s ‘bad boy’ uncle Gary Goldsmith’s £3.6million villa alongside Pippa and James Middleton and Prince Harry.
The luxury pad boasted an infinity swimming pool and a tennis court, but it quickly became known as ‘La Maison de Bang Bang’ – crude French slang for the house of sex – because of his penchant for wild parties.
In 2009, the trip made headlines after The News Of The World printed a shocking photo of Kate’s uncle – Gary Goldsmith – seemingly preparing to snort cocaine on their front page.
Gary had unwittingly invited two journalists from the paper into his villa in Ibiza where he shared stories about Kate and Wills time at his home including a tale of how William broke his ornamental pyramids.
Aside from reports about what yacht the family were holidaying, William and Kate also faced speculations about why they made a stop off at Zakynthos.
The clear blue sea of Kefalonia where William and Kate holidayed this summer
In August, the Daily Mail reported that a tender boat was despatched on a special mission. Locals on Zakynthos have half-jokingly speculated that the 12-year-old George might fancied a fast food treat.
Sources remain tight-lipped about the what the purpose of the trip was but allegedly the young Prince – seemingly having grown tired of Greek staples such as souvlaki and moussaka – might have fancied a McDonalds.
During their holiday, it has been confirmed the Prince and Princess of Wales – along with Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte – first travelled to Kefalonia before they were spotted off the coast of the tiny island of Ithaca.
They reportedly only set foot on land to travel to and from the airport.
