Princess Cruises confirmed today that The Duchess of Cambridge will be godmother to their newest ship, Royal Princess. It’s been the best-kept secret in cruising for more than a year, though her present condition may well have thrown her participation into doubt – she will be eight months pregnant when the ceremony takes place on June 13.
But Kate Middleton is the one person that Princess must have had in mind from the moment in February last year that they revealed the ship would be named in Southampton.
And they are delighted that she was able to resume her Royal duties following the morning sickness problems early in her pregnancy. The issuing of official invitations to the ceremony has been delayed several times in the past few weeks.
Alan Buckelew, the line’s president and CEO said today: “It is a great honour for Princess Cruises that Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Cambridge has accepted our invitation to become the Godmother to Royal Princess. We are delighted that the Duchess will launch our new ship and can think of no better way to celebrate our company’s British heritage and our commitment to the country.”
The spectacular ceremony at Southampton’s Ocean Terminal will uphold British ship-naming traditions including the blessing, and performances by the Royal Marines Band and the pipers of the Irish Guards.
Royal Princess will arrive in Southampton on Friday June 7 to begin a series of events for customers and travel agents, including a special naming gala on the evening of Wednesday June 12. The ship’s inaugural celebrations will conclude with her maiden voyage on June 16.
The ship, which can carry more than 3,600 passengers, is the first of a new design. A sister vessel, Regal Princess, is under construction and will be delivered in 2014. Work has begun on a third, which will join the P&O fleet in 2015.
In 1984, Princess Diana was godmother to an earlier ship of the same name.
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
Not trying to be unhelpful, but the ship is being built in Italy with a developing world crew. Princess is part of Carnival based in the US and offshored from there to avoid paying taxes. How does this demonstrate support for the UK?