It was a ceremony that rang out with all the pomp and circumstance of the golden age of cruise ships.
Queen Elizabeth yesterday christened her 92,000-ton namesake amid a shower of ticker tape, fireworks and praise for long-standing British traditions in a scene that echoed her late mother’s launch of the original ocean cruiser 72 years ago.
The £400million luxury liner was built in Italy, but its British owners Cunard said it would be used to pull in ‘dollars from American pockets’ to boost the economy during the downturn.
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
High flying: The standard of Her Majesty the Queen flies from the cruise ship's mast
In line with Cunard’s peculiar custom of using white wine instead of champagne, the Queen pressed a button to smash a jeroboam of 2009 Rothschild Cunard Graves against the bow.
‘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.’
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
Bon voyage: Streamers explode over the bow as the Queen Elizabeth is launched
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 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.
One is everywhere: The Queen, who has attended three Elizabeth naming ceremonies, walks past her portrait
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.’
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.
Famous faces: Alan Whicker (left) and Sir Jimmy Savile attend the launch
The Queen Elizabeth: Tickets for her maiden voyage to the Mediterranean - costing between £1,489 and £15,799 - sold out in under 30 minutes
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.
Royal blessing: The Queen launching the QE2 in 1967
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 today. Tickets for the trip - costing between £1,489 and £15,799 - sold out in under 30 minutes.
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