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Stamps to mark anniversary of Royal Yacht Britannia

Royal Mail of commemorative stamps that are being issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the launch of Royal Yacht Britanni Credit: Royal Mail/PA Wire

Commemorative stamps are being issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the launch of Royal Yacht Britannia.

The book of 10 Royal Mail first-class stamps feature images of the yacht being launched by the Queen in 1953, the apartments inside the boat and its final overseas trip to Hong Kong in 1997.

During its 44 years serving the Royal Family, the boat went on 968 official voyages around the world and is said to have travelled at least a million miles.

The yacht's barge led around a thousand boats for the Thames Jubilee pageant last June, carrying the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Built by workers at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, near Glasgow, Royal Yacht Britannia was launched on the Clyde on April 16, 1953.

It is now a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, hosting around 300,000 visitors a year.

The stamps are on sale from Tuesday, exactly 60 years since the Clyde launch.