| Queens honour Queen’s 60-year reign

Cunard brought
together its three
ships to host the
largest Diamond
Jubilee celebration
outside of London.
THE Queen Mary 2, Queen
Victoria and Queen
Elizabeth met in
Southampton for the first
time on Tuesday (05 Jun) in
a tribute to Her Majesty The
Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
It was the first time that the Cunard fleet has
been seen arriving and departing together in a
three-ship formation at their homeport in
England.
Queens honour Queen’s 60-year reign
The ships approached the port soon after
dawn, sailing in single file up Southampton
Water where they were welcomed by a flotilla
of small boats.
QM2 then revealed a massive
“Congratulations Ma’am” banner near the
funnel (pictured above) while all three ships’
whistles sounded in salute.
The celebrations, believed to be the largest
Diamond Jubilee event outside of London,
culminated in an evening spectacular of
fireworks and special effects.
Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line, said
the company wanted to mark the occasion “in
a way that gives everyone, especially our
guests, a truly remarkable day that they will
feel proud to talk about for years to come”.
He said Queen Elizabeth II had long been
associated with Cunard, as the only person to
have attended the naming of all three
“Elizabeths”, beginning in 1938 with the
original Queen Elizabeth, then in 1967 when
she launched Queen Elizabeth 2 and 2010
when she named the new Queen Elizabeth.