President Bush crosses the Atlantic on Cunard’s Queen Mary 2

There’s an extra-special VIP guest on board Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 this week – ex-president George Bush is fulfilling a long-held ambition to make a Transatlantic crossing.
Together with his wife Barbara, daughter Dorothy Bush Koch, and grand-daughter Gigi, 87-year-old Bush boarded the ship in Southampton on Friday for the seven-night voyage to New York.
Bush, the 41st president of the USA, joked that friends have teased him about making the journey in the centenary year of the Titanic’s sinking. He is reported as reassuring them with his customary wit and grasp of world affairs: “I think global warming has claimed the icebergs.”
No word from Cunard as to whether the Queen’s Grill has been re-named the First Lady’s Grill for the week, although I somehow doubt it. And no word on how long Bush had to queue to get through Heathrow immigration on his arrival in the UK. But I hope the Bushes were prepared for the rough weather awaiting Queen Mary 2 as she headed west out of the English Channel.
George Bush the younger, meanwhile, has just taken part in a 13-mile leg of a marathon charity cycle ride in aid of injured servicemen. If I can be forgiven a blatant plug, my brother has just embarked on a rather longer charity ride, and will spend a month visiting every one of Scotland’s Western Isles, raising funds for Cancer Research UK. Follow his adventures on Twitter at @CancerBikeMan.