Why can’t people just leave her alone?

At a recent press conference in Shanghai it was announced that the transformation of the retired QE2 into a five-star floating resort will be completed by 2015. This of course has been heard many times before from various global financial powerhouses claiming to want to turn our beloved QE2 into a ‘luxury floating hotel, retail museum & entertainment destination’…… – seriously?!

I just can’t help feeling that she should be spruced up, left alone and brought back home and shown a little more respect. I’m not sure the term ‘entertainment destination’ fills Her Majesty the Queen with joy any more than it does me.

First it was going to be Dubai, then Cape Town and now…..well no-one quite seems to know. It has been reported that the iconic liner will undergo a complete refurbishment at the COSCO shipyard in China though it is not yet clear when it will depart for China, nor where it will end up when the refurbishment is complete. Recent reports suggest it could end up in Singapore, while the official website has a backdrop of Hong Kong and the line: “As a floating hotel in Asia Pacific”.

So it looks like an iconic piece of British engineering (she was built by Upper Clyde Shipbuilders in the John Brown Shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland) and the flagship of our nation will end up languishing somewhere in Asia as yet another ‘super hotel’ accommodating guests who probably know little of her glorious history and care even less.

Not unlike the the Queen Mary who for some time now has been moored in Long Beach, California and has been turned into what can only be described as a ‘theme park’, and in my opinion a pretty naff looking one at that.

It somehow doesn’t seem a fitting end for two of our nations most beloved and recognised feats of engineering. I mean, you wouldn’t bury your Grandma at a ‘Wacky Warehouse’ would you?

I know economic times are tough right now so why not utilise some of that National Lottery Funding we hear so much about and get both our girls back home to the UK where they belong, and may they finally rest in peace.

I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.