Cunard
 

Any spies or members who work in Fincantieri shipyard who can disclose the name of the new Cunarder being built, after all the name must appear long before she is finished. Two names which won’t appear are Queen Camilla/Megan. My guess is Queen Anne (1665-1714)

Very hush-hush but the Cunard Board had the Duke of Norfolk to lunch last week and sounded him out on the advisability of amending tradition and naming the ship, "Queen Consort". This is to recognise the effort put in by Camilla and the young Miss Middleton.
Remember you heard it first on SH.

Maybe 'Duke of Edinburgh'

"Queen Duke of Edinburgh", open to misinterpretation given the behaviour of his uncle Dickie.
Plain 'Duke of Edinburgh' sounds like a cross-channel ferry. The Earl Marshall wouldn't allow it.

A year ago I guessed the name of the new cunarder as Queen Anne and I was sure as right as that’s the name of the new Cunarder. Where do I pick up the winnings.

Do I have the wrong end of the stick when I was under the impression that by convention all Cunard vessels ended in "A"? the exception being Queen Mary which was alleged to have been from a misunderstanding when the chairman of Cunard asked the King for permission to name the new vessel after Britain's Queen meaning Victoria to which the King replied "Oh Mary will be delighted" That apparently started a president that lead to Queen Elizabeth and QE2 but I had the impression Cunard still preferred to end their vessel names with "A"

The Cunard naming system was thrown into confusion when owned by Trafalgar House, a construction company, with the naming of Queen Elizabeth 2. Apparently if they used Roman numerals it meant the ship would be named after the current Monarch, so they used "2" instead. I'm still not sure she was really named as a second or replacement Queen Elizabeth. :confused:

Actually QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 was not ordered or initially operated by Trafalgar House as they did not acquire Cunard until...1 July 1971, or a full two years after she entered service. The name was the choice of Sir Basil Smallpeice of the "old" Cunard Line Ltd.

Of course, we all know that H.M. the Queen did not bother reading the card she was given for the launch and caused quite a stir in Scotland when she named the ship QUEEN ELIZABETH THE SECOND. I wonder what happened to that card....

All around, I suspect they wished they had just named her MAURETANIA or AQUITANIA!

Thanks for the clarification, I was working from memory after reading (many years ago) the book by Smallpeice. I think it was titled "Of Comets and Queens" (?).
It was a very interesting read with criticisms of British Government attitudes to our shipping and airline industries. He commented on the naming of QE2.

Yes, I remember buying that on a visit to London when it first came out and relishing it on the first and subsequent reads. Smallpeice was one, if not the first, literal "penny counter" to head both an airline and a steamship line, being an accountant by vocation and instinct. He must have aged 20 years seeing Cunard's balance sheets the first time!

Of course, that was a different era when a liner was a national emblem so the name mattered and one is tempted to write an entire article on the saga. Now, of course, "QE2" is an icon and seems too clever for words.. back in 1965, it was quite bold and radical on every level. Rather like the ship herself.