Celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Royal family has long been an intrinsic part of our heritage, and since assuming the throne in 1952 Queen Elizabeth II has visited and travelled on many Cunard ships.
In the 70 years of Her Majesty's reign, her association with Cunard became a great source of pride, and we delighted in toasting this special relationship.
Cunard and The Queen.
Her Majesty’s long association with Cunard dates back to September 1938. She had been our honoured guest at many special events over the decades, and no fewer than three Cunard ships have borne her name.
1938: Launch of Queen Elizabeth.
On 27 September 1938 Princess Elizabeth, aged 12, and her sister Margaret, accompanied Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth to Clydebank to watch their mother launch the biggest ship in the world – Queen Elizabeth.
1946: Queen Elizabeth sea trials.
The Queen and her daughters embarked Queen Elizabeth for the first time on 8 October 1946, during her reconversion after her war service. The Princesses were each given a stopwatch to time Queen Elizabeth’s speed over the measured mile along the Clyde.
1967: Launch of QE2.
The second Queen Elizabeth was launched by The Queen on 20 September 1967. She cut the ribbon using the same gold scissors that her mother had used to launch Queen Elizabeth in 1938 and her grandmother to launch Queen Mary in 1934.
2010: Launch of Queen Elizabeth.
On 11 October 2010, 72 years after attending her first Cunard event, The Queen travelled to Southampton to name Queen Elizabeth and thus became the only person to have attended the launches of all three Cunard 'Elizabeths'.
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