Champagne moment a right royal let-down

SHIP AHOY: Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall and her husband Prince Charles tour the bridge of the Cunard liner Queen Victoria in Southampton on Monday. Earlier, a stubborn champagne bottle released by Camilla refused to break as it struck the hull of the cruise liner at a naming ceremony. Picture: AP

FOR the superstitious and seafarers it is a bad omen.

As the woman who could become Britain’s next queen, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, officially named a new luxury cruise liner the champagne bottle refused to smash.

As a flag-waving audience looked on, Camilla pushed the button to send the bubbly crashing into the side of the
90000-ton Queen Victoria.

But nothing happened.

The bottle eventually swung into the hull, then bounced off. Eventually, a second bottle of Veuve Clicquot was smashed manually over the side at the ceremony in Southampton, on England’s south coast, on Monday.

British media attempted to read the runes yesterday, drawing parallels to previous occasions when the champagne failed to break, and hoping it does not also spell bad luck for heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles’ second wife.

There have already been rumblings of discontent about Camilla’s choice for the ceremony, as in Britain tradition has it that Queen Elizabeth II launches and names ships bearing a monarch’s name. The Aurora, named by Princess Anne, broke down on its maiden voyage in 2000. Three years later, its passengers fell ill with a virus, then in 2005 its engines failed. The Queen Victoria – a sister ship to Cunard line’s Queen Elizabeth II and Queen Mary II – sets off on its maiden voyage around northern Europe later today.

“The Duchess will no doubt be hoping that the 300-million-pound vessel can shake off the curse of the unbroken bottle,” The Times said. — Sapa-AFP