Queen to name new cruise liner

The ceremony will take place at Southampton on October 11, the vessel setting sail on its maiden voyage the following day.

The Queen was present in 1938 when her mother, then Queen Elizabeth, launched the first Queen Elizabeth liner on the Clyde in Scotland.

The Queen also launched the QE2 on the Clyde in 1967 and was at Southampton in 2004 to name the Queen Mary 2.

Cunard president and managing director Peter Shanks said yesterday: "The naming of a Cunard Queen is a very special occasion and this will be an historic event in the true sense of the word.

"We are both honoured and proud that Her Majesty will name our new liner Queen Elizabeth."

The 90,000-tonne vessel has been built at the Fincantieri shipyard near Trieste in Italy. It arrives at Southampton next month.