The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and The Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles attended a regal ceremony to launch Cunard Line’s new $500 million Queen Victoria, a new 90,000 ton, 2,014 passenger luxury ocean liner.  The Duchess of Cornwall performed the official naming (christening) of the ship as part of a colorful and regal ceremony.  In the more than one hundred sixty years of Cunard’s history, a senior member of the Royal family has conducted the naming of each new Cunard ocean liner.  More than two thousand VIP guests, celebrities and dignitaries observed the ceremony in a marquee auditorium shore-side at the ship’s bow, while several hundred people followed the ceremony on a large screen in a nearby park.

Prince Charles and The Duchess of Cornwall toured the ship and got a first hand impression of the luxurious and state-of-the-art amenities onboard this 21 century ocean liner.

Named for England’s first “modern” monarch and the second largest Cunarder ever built, the ship features a wide array of innovations which include:

• First traditional West End-style private boxes in the 800 seat Royal Court Theatre
• First Cunardia Museum exhibit at sea
• First two-story library at sea with more than 6000 volumes
• First liner to feature fencing – a favorite pastime of Prince Albert