Some royal yachts have been/are small vessels only used for short trips on rivers or in calm waters, but others have been/are large seaworthy ships.

Depending on how the term is defined royal yachts date back to the days of antiquity with royal barges on the Nile in ancient Egypt.

Later the Vikings produced royal vessels. They followed the pattern of longships although highly decorated and fitted with purple sails (purple sails remained standard for royal vessels the next 400 years).

In England, Henry V sold off the Royal Yachts to clear the Crown's debts. The next royal vessels in England were built in the Tudor period with Henry VIII using a vessel in 1520 that was depicted as having cloth of gold sails. James I had the disdain a ship in miniature (she was later recorded as being able to carry about 30 tons) built for his son Prince Henry. The disdain was significant in that she allowed for pleasure cruising and as a result can be seen as an early move away from Royal ships as warships.

The first ships to unquestionably qualify as royal yachts were those owned by Charles II of England Scotland and Ireland.[citation needed] The first was a gift from the Dutch but later yachts were commissioned and built in England. This established a tradition of royal yachts in Britain that was later copied by other royal families of Europe. Through the 19th century royal yachts got larger as they became a symbol of national wealth. World War I brought this trend to an end and the royal families that survived found it harder to justify the cost with the result that there are only two royal yachts left in use in Europe. For the most part royal yachts have been superseded by the use of warships in this role, as royal yachts are often seen as a hard-to-justify expenditure. In addition most monarchies with a railway system employ a special set of royal carriages. Most monarchies also employ aircraft as a luxurious (and much more speedy and timely) mode of transportation.

The Danish royal family have had several royal yachts. Two of them have been named Dannebrog.

The Imperial Ottoman Government and the Republic of Turkey has used many yachts for its Head of State. These include:

During the German Empire The Kaiser used these Yachts:

King Haakon VII received the Royal Yacht Norge as a gift from the people of Norway in 1947. The Royal Yacht is owned by the King but maintained and manned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. Before this other Navy ships had served as royal sea transport and the King used some smaller boats for short trips mostly on official occasions.

The Portuguese King Charles I used four successive royal yachts, all named Amélia, after his wife, Queen Amélie of Orleans. These yachts were, mainly, used by Charles I his oceanographic missions. It was in the Amélia IV that King Manuel II and the Portuguese Royal Family left the country for the exile, after the republican revolution of 5 October 1910. In the republican regime the Amélia IV was renamed NRP 5 de Outubro and operated by the Portuguese Navy.