Queen says farewell to QE2

Updated 15.00 Mon Jun 02 2008

Keywords: Queen, QE2

The Queen has travelled to Southampton to bid farewell to the QE2 on the 55th anniversary of the Coronation.

Baroness Thatcher will be among 300 guests who will be with the Queen on the vessel which is docked at Southampton.

A 41-gun Royal Salute has been fired by The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery at Green Park. A similiar gun salute took place at the Tower of London to honour the anniversary of the Coronation.

The QE2 was built at the John Brown Shipyard on the Clyde in Scotland and was launched by the Monarch in September 1967.

In 1982, the QE2 was requisitioned by the UK Government as a troop ship in the Falklands War, carrying more than 3,000 servicemen to the South Atlantic.

She has been on 25 world cruises, with the first taking place in 1975, and will be retired from service in November.

The Queen was 25 when she acceded the throne and was crowned 16 months later at Westminster Abbey. She celebrated her 82nd birthday in April.