QE2 runs aground on final voyage
It was hardly the most regal moment in the QE2's glittering career when the supreme luxury ocean liner ran into a sandbank off Southampton this morning on its final voyage before metamorphosing into a floating hotel in Dubai.
But the embarrassment was merely fleeting as the ship, which has carried royalty and Hollywood stars, as well as millions of less famous passengers, docked just 25 minutes late at the port, where the Duke of Edinburgh led the farewell ceremonies.
A Cunard spokesman said the ship had been pulled off the sandbank. "No one on board has been injured. A lot of people will have been in bed when it happened and not have noticed."
The QE2's final departure from British shores will be accompanied by solemnity as well as pomp and ceremony. To mark the 90th anniversary of the end of the first world war, a Tiger Moth plane dropped 1m poppies on the 70,000-tonne liner, which served as a hospital ship during the 1982 Falklands war.
After a two-minute silence, Prince Philip met long-serving staff as well as the former captains of HMSs Ardent, Antelope and Coventry, ships that were lost in the Falklands campaign. He will also stand on the aft decks of QE2 to watch a fly-past by a Harrier jet. A small flotilla is expected to accompany the ship as it leaves Southampton for its final voyage to Dubai.
Passengers snapped up tickets, with the highest-priced berths going for more than £28,000. The trip was sold out almost instantly.
The QE2 will reach Dubai on November 26 and be handed over to the firm Nakheel - part of the Dubai World company and the creator of the Palm Jumeirah, the world's largest man-made island.
The QE2 will be extensively refurbished over the next few months before docking permanently at a specially constructed berth on the island. The revamped vessel will have a heritage museum displaying artefacts from the ship and from maritime history.
Since it was launched by the Queen on the Clyde in 1967, the QE2 has carried more than 2.5 million passengers. The longest-serving ship in the history of the Cunard line, it has broken records both for speed and endurance. After 40 years and 5.5m miles, however, keeping it at sea for much longer would have been too costly.
With the Queen Mary 2 now the Cunard flagship, and with other vessels due to join the company's fleet, Cunard announced last year that the QE2 would be sold to Dubai World for around £50m.
Over its 40-year career, the QE2's passengers have included most of the crowned heads of Europe, politicians such as Lady Thatcher and Nelson Mandela, the astronaut Buzz Aldrin and the explorer Sir John Blashford-Snell. British stars have included the singer Vera Lynn, most of the Beatles, individually, Mick Jagger and David Bowie. The Hollywood actors Elizabeth Taylor, Bob Hope and Paul Newman have also sailed on the QE2.
Dubai's hot, dry climate should help to preserve the ship in the long term.