I was on Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth cruise ship sailing from Rome to Naples when the news was announced to the world that Queen Elizabeth II had “died peacefully” at Balmoral Castle in the Scottish Highlands surrounded by family. The atmosphere immediately changed onboard when the announcement from the captain came over the intercom. Music stopped and there was a huge outpouring of grief from passengers, who openly wept onboard the Queens namesake, a ship she christened in 2010.
The Cunard cruise line has been linked to royalty since 1934 when it named a ship after Queen Mary, and it was as a girl at just 12 when the Queen stood beside the Queen Mother launching Cunard’s new ship, the Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth II remains the only person to have had attended all three inaugurals for Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth ships; 1938, 1967 and 2010, and the only reigning monarch to have sailed on a passenger ship operating a commercial voyage when she travelled on the Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1990.
Passenger Rita Moore from Wales said “She is all we have ever known, she never put a foot wrong.” As the realisation of the announcement swept across the ship, passengers hugged as the world woke to the sad news.
MiNDFOOD acknowledges the extraordinary role Queen Elizabeth II held and the dedication to service to the Commonwealth for over seventy years. May she Rest In Peace.
