THE Queen has officially named the latest luxury cruise liner to be based in Southampton.

Cunard's Queen Elizabeth was christened by the monarch in a ceremony at Southampton docks.

The Italian-built, 92,000-tonne vessel will now leave tomorrow for its maiden voyage - a sailing that was fully booked less than 30 minutes after going on sale.

The 964ft-long ship joins two other ''queens'' in the Cunard fleet - the Queen Mary 2 (QM2) and the Queen Victoria.

See tomorrow's Daily Echo for special coverage of the event