Red, white and blue tickertape rained down on royals and commoners alike last week as Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II officially named P&O Cruises’ new ship Britannia.

Dressed in a Stewart Parvin peach-and-white tweed wool dress and matching coat, the Queen sent a bottle of Sussex-produced sparkling wine smashing against the side of the towering, 141,000-ton vessel at Southampton.

Accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen looked up as the tickertape descended and bandsmen struck up a rendition of Rule Britannia.

It was a poignant moment for the 88-year-old, for whom the name Britannia will always be synonymous with the royal yacht that saw service for more than four decades before its decommissioning in 1997.

Press Association GraphicPress Association Graphic

In 1953, shortly before her coronation, the young Queen had launched the royal yacht.

Fifty-two years on, in Southampton, the monarch was at the birth of a new Britannia in the form of the 1,082ft-long addition to the P&O Cruises fleet.

After prayers from the Bishop of Southampton, the Right Reverend Jonathan Frost, the Queen, watched by top bosses of P&O Cruises and its parent company Carnival, named the ship in the quayside ceremony that took place in welcome warm sunshine on Wednesday.

On their tour of the Italian-built, €670 million vessel, which can carry more than 3,600 passengers and 1,500 crew, the Queen and Philip laughed and joked with some of the celebrity chefs who prepared meals for the ship, some of whom will be taking part in on-board cookery classes.

Those present included James Martin and Marco Pierre White.

On the bridge, the Queen met senior officers of the ship, including the ship’s master Captain Paul Brown.

The new vessel has 15 passenger decks, 13 bars and 13 places to eat, a three-tier atrium, a 936-seat theatre, four swimming pools and a multimillion-pound art collection.

There is also a spa, children's areas, gym, library, extensive shops and a sports arena.

Sailing from Southampton during the summer and operating from the Caribbean in the winter, Britannia will visit 57 ports in 31 countries in its first year, sailing more than 144,841 km.

Its maiden cruise, which left Southampton yesterday, is a 14-night western Mediterranean sailing, with stops including Barcelona, Monte Carlo and Rome.

This will be the third P&O ship to be named Britannia. The first entered service in 1835 for P&O’s predecessor company, the General Steam Navigation Co.

The second Britannia entered service in 1887 and was built in Greenock in Scotland.

In another link between the name Britannia and the royal family, Winston Churchill sailed on P&O’s second Britannia in 1888.

More than five decades later, the great statesman was the first of the Queen’s 12 prime ministers.

Unlike the other P&O Cruises’ vessels, which are Bermudan-flagged, the new Britannia has been registered in Southampton and bears the name of the Hampshire city on its structure.

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