Royalty comes to town

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One of the VIP's, who asked not to be named, tells me: "It is fantastic, just fantastic. Dubai grows more famous around the world by the day. Having this ship here, which is already world famous, is exactly what Dubai is about. Ten years ago, the world didn't know about Dubai. Now everyone does."

Jane's point, it seems to this observer, is reactionary. Indeed, the world is changing, fast, and perhaps the QE2's arrival in the Gulf is symbolic of this change. Someone should tell Jane.

Created by a Western power, Britain, in 1967, the ship - then the largest in the world - was emblematic of not only the country's international prestige and power, but of its commercial might. The QE2 typified the scale of British achievement and ambition.

How things have changed. Today, Britain hunkers down for the inevitable and heavy recession. Sovereign wealth funds from the Gulf own huge shares in British assets - to the point that there is a strong argument to be made that the Gulf is propping up the British economy.

Why, only last month, the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, came to Dubai and Abu Dhabi looking for handouts to the International Monetary Fund, as well as talking about how Britain welcomed investment from the Gulf.

With each dollar or pound the Gulf invests in British or European economies comes increased power and influence in those regions. The QE2 may have first left port when Dubai and Abu Dhabi were nothing but far away places, but her shifting of residency and ownership coincides with a much larger geo-economic and geo-political shift in power. The British flag still flies over the QE2, but for how much longer?

Back on quayside, an event organiser is shouting frantically into his walkie-talkie. We're getting closer, the rumour goes, to actually seeing her as she draws nearer to the dock. "No, no, no, you don't understand," he bellows.

"It is going to be incredible. We're going to have everything. There is going to be smoke, mirrors, fireworks, the whole shooting match." Other people, I notice, professionally involved in the ceremony, are becoming more agitated now. The cameramen are nervously scanning the horizon for the first sighting. I join them.

And, then, suddenly, there she is. The funnel is the first thing we see. That funnel. Plumes of dark smoke trail from it. Its days are numbered though. Soon it will be removed, placed in a museum, and a replica will be put in its place, a replica that isn't a funnel at all, but a deluxe, penthouse suite. Is this in good taste? Time will tell.

The crowd cheers, I cheer. I even notice Jane cheering. The QE2 cheers back. Well, it doesn't cheer, it lows. Massively. Its fog horn is a wonderful sound, one that has been heard in every corner of the world.

She's bought in by three tugs. The bagpipers are squeezing away frenziedly. There is also an elite team of local dancers. They sway and wave sticks around, nearly synchronised.

Onboard, the decks are lined with passengers who have streamed out of their cabins to watch this moment - the QE2 arriving for the final time. It's rumoured that Beatrice Muller, the little old lady who has lived on board for fourteen years since her husband died, is up there waving. I can't spot her, but I wonder how she must feel. Homeless, I expect. As the ship draws ever closer, it is impossible not to be impressed by how massive it is.

Suddenly, there is the promised lightshow, and all the rest. Dubai is making headlines, yet again. The people of Southampton may want the ship back, but who cares about them now? Like everyone else, I am waving my flags - one British, one UAE - like a man demented. Welcome to Dubai, your majesty.

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READERS' COMMENTS

SS Queen Elisabeth
Posted by angelo, Dubai, UAE on Thursday 11 December 2008 at 09:38 UAE time


I wonder how long before this 50 year old ship suffers the same fate as her predecessor who ended up ignominiously in Hong Kong harbour after an alleged insurance scam - or am I being a pessimist again?

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