Her Majesty the Queen will name Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth liner in a star-studded ceremony in Southampton today.

Hundreds of invited guests are expected to line the quayside of the Ocean Terminal for the official launch of the 92,000 tonnes vessel, which is set to become the third in the Cunard fleet.

Queen Elizabeth arrives in Southampton

Built at the Fincantieri Monfalcone shipyard near Trieste in Italy, the ship can carry 2,068 passengers and 996 crew members over her 16-decks while travelling at a speed of around 27mph.

On board features include an 18ft panel created by the Queen’s nephew Viscount Linley, art deco interiors echoing the 1930s’ great age of ocean liners, and a shopping area featuring names such as Fortnum & Mason and Harris Tweed.

Maiden Voyage

Queen Elizabeth will leave on her maiden voyage tomorrow, heading to the Canary Islands on a 13-night sailing with stops at Lisbon, Tenerife and Madeira.

The trip was fully booked less than 30 minutes after going on sale earlier this year.

Under the command of Captain Chris Wells - who earlier served on the QE2 and Cunard’s flagship Queen Mary 2 (QM2) - the new ship is the third Cunard ship to be named Queen Elizabeth.

The first was launched on the Clyde in Scotland in 1938 by the then Queen Elizabeth - who later became the Queen Mother - with the present Queen, aged 12, looking on.

The Queen launched the second Queen Elizabeth, the QE2, on the Clyde in 1967.

She also named the QM2 at Southampton in 2004.

World Mobi

Also in Southampton today, World Mobi launched its new city guide.

World Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the World Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.mobi, London.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

Southampton.City.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, transport, and weather.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.