Cunard superliner is christened by the Queen 43 years after she launched the QE2

Ladies who launch: Christopher Wells, Captain of the Queen Elizabeth, salutes as the Queen presses a button to smash a bottle of white wine on the side of the bow of Cunard's newest cruise ship


The Queen officially named Cunard's 92,000-tonne Queen Elizabeth liner today amid a shower of ticker tape and fireworks.

Her Majesty spoke the familiar vessel-launching words, requesting God to bless the vessel 'and all who sail in her', as hundreds of invited guests listened to patriotic tunes including Land Of Hope And Glory in a quayside ceremony in Southampton.

The naming, also shown in a live broadcast at Southampton's Guildhall Square, was completed as a jeroboam of 2009 Rothschild white wine - rather than champagne - was smashed against the bow of the £400 million luxury liner.


High flying: The standard of Her Majesty the Queen flies from the cruise ship's mast


‘I name this ship Queen Elizabeth. God bless her and all who sail in her,’ she told a crowd of 2,000 guests at Southampton docks, including Carol Vorderman and Sir Jimmy Savile dressed in his customary shell suit and pink glasses, with his knighthood insignia on show.

Sir Jimmy, 83, said: ‘It feels terrific because it is a great day for Britain. We have a home-grown Cunard super liner come to say goodbye before it sails off around the world forever.’

To complete the rousing patriotism, Lesley Garrett sang Amazing Grace and 12-year-old choirboy Alexander Howard-Williams launched into Jerusalem. The Queen was presented with a posy by schoolboy Dan Garabette, eight.


The Queen presses the ship's siren during a tour of the Queen Elizabeth, prior to the naming ceremony


Captain Wells gives the Queen a guided tour around the superliner, where she is greeted (below) by staff


The scene was reminiscent of 1938, when the Queen Mother launched the original Queen Elizabeth on the Clyde in Scotland with her 12-year-old daughter by her side.


After she became Queen herself, our sovereign launched the QE2 in 1967.

And the new 16-storey, 964ft ocean liner replaces the original Queen Elizabeth, which was destroyed in a fire in Hong Kong Harbour.


Bon voyage: Streamers explode over the bow as the Queen Elizabeth is launched


Cunard’s president Peter Shanks said: ‘There is only one person here who can claim presence at all three Elizabeth namings, and that person is Her Majesty the Queen.


‘The third Queen Elizabeth is the magnificent vessel you see behind me now. While she could not be built in Clydebank, she nonetheless exudes Britishness in the Cunard manner, and she will carry the name of Southampton on her stern around the globe.

‘Her grand and spacious public rooms make her, like her predecessors, quintessentially British. But like them she has an international appeal - an appeal which will boost the British economy by gently easing dollars from American pockets, euros from French and German pockets, yen from the Japanese and roubles from the Russians.’


It was the third Elizabeth naming ceremony the Queen had attended, after the original Queen Elizabeth in 1938 and the QE2 in 1967. Among the celebrity guests were Sir Jimmy Savile, who said: 'It's a great day for Britain'


The Queen admires a portrait of herself commissioned by Cunard


Earlier, the Queen toured the 1930s-style decks, passing gaudy fruit machines in the casino to enter the refined Queen’s room with its two Swarovsky chandeliers.

After Captain Christopher Wells invited her to sound the horn, the monarch said: ‘(It’s) a much deeper sound than I imagined.’

Dressed in a turquoise hat, silk dress and wool overcoat with a diamond brooch, she admired an 18ft art deco frieze designed by her nephew Viscount Linley.

And she beamed as she came face to her face with another namesake.
For the first time, the monarch saw the finished portrait of herself painted by Burnley-born artist Isobel Peachey, 31, over three hour-long sittings.

The painting, which shows the Queen wearing Queen Victoria’s necklace and earrings, was completed in an attic belonging to Miss Peachey’s mother in West London because the canvas had to remain secret.

A nervous Miss Peachey told the Mail afterwards that her sitter congratulated her on the two-month project.

She said: ‘The Queen asked me how long the painting took me and she said very well done. It’s all been quite surreal - a journey of nerves and excitement which has all finally come together. I’m unbelievably happy.’

Esther Rantzen, Alan Titchmarsh and Simon Weston were among the other guests, while former Coronation Street actress Liz Dawn - who played Vera Duckworth - arrived in a wheelchair because she is suffering from emphysema.

The ship sets off on its maiden voyage to the Mediterranean tomorrow. Tickets for the trip - costing between £1,489 and £15,799 - sold out in under 30 minutes.



The Queen Elizabeth: Tickets for her maiden voyage to the Mediterranean - costing between £1,489 and £15,799 - sold out in under 30 minutes


source: dailymail