The summer event was the city at its best
Cunard’s Queen Anne leaves the Cruise Terminal on the River Mersey, Liverpool(Image: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)
Merseyside hosted its fair share of huge events in 2024. June saw the city roll out the pink carpet for Taylor Swift as Liverpool was transformed into ‘Taylor Town’ for the star’s hattrick of gigs at Anfield, the Grand National was as exciting as ever and Liverpool was the centre of the political world for a week in September when the newly-elected Labour government arrived for its party conference.
But Liverpool truly shone in early June when Cunard’s newest ship Queen Anne arrived for her naming ceremony – the blessing of a ship to bring it good fortune on its travels. Big ships on the Mersey always draw big crowds – but Cunard takes that up a level.
The cruise line has a longstanding relationship with our maritime city – it launched transatlantic passenger shipping from here in 1840 and gave its name to one of the Three Graces. Its ships had previously attracted more than a million spectators to our region, first for the maiden call of the QE2 in July 1990, and 2015 for the Three Queens ‘royal rendezvous’ in front of the Cunard Building.
Queen Anne, which was built for around $600m between 2017 and 2024, was brought to Liverpool for her naming ceremony to celebrate Cunard’s historic links with our city. She arrived on Monday, June 3 of last year on a British Isles cruise and the city came out in droves for a free day of entertainment and celebrations on the Pier Head.
At the naming ceremony itself, Liverpool was revealed as the ship’s godparent – the first time such an honour has been bestowed on a city. After representatives Mel C, Ngunan Adamu, Natalie Haywood, Jayne Casey and Katarina Johnson-Thompson delivered the customary Champagne bottle smash, legendary Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli took to the stage.
Andrea Bocelli singing at the Naming Ceremony for Cunard’s newest ship in Liverpool(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
His beautiful and moving performance of ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ stopped the thousands in attendance in their tracks. It led to many tears in the crowd and was met with a minute-long round of applause. The evening then brought with it a party.
Craig Charles’ DJ set was accompanied by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as he mixed classics by The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, Indeep and Sister Sledge. Thousands of people danced the Monday night away as a firework spectacular saw Queen Anne off on her voyage. It was Liverpool doing what it does best.
Cunard simply couldn’t stay away from Liverpool and the luxury cruise line returned to the Mersey later in the year when Queen Mary 2 docked in the city in September to celebrate the milestone of her 400th transatlantic crossing. Another huge vessel then arrived in December in the form of the Royal Navy’s flagship HMS Prince of Wales – again drawing huge crowds to the waterfront.
Queen Anne’s naming ceremony was truly the highlight, however. It proved once again that nobody does it like Liverpool.