Don't worry about it Peter. I'm sure it ceased being a flogging offence in the '50's.
It is nice to know that the tradition seems to be carrying on though.
It was just one of those things, like afternoon tea in the Queen's Room or the Joe Loss Orchestra belting it out down the Double Down that seemed to make the QE2 so special. I feel I risk starting to sound like Mrs. Bucket, but there was something wonderful about these rituals that streched back to the old Queens and the Edwardian four stackers and probably back to Sam Cunard and his paddle boats. (Ok, I know Joe Loss probably wasn't playing on the Britannia, and, sadly, is no longer available for bookings) but my point, I suppose, is that there was, on this spaceship of a liner, in the late 1970's and early1980's, an immutable spirit, a way of doing things that transcended fashion. The fashion was on the walls, it was the furniture, it was the new film they showed twice daily every day. That they showed the films so, however, was another strand of this ethos, this thing they called "Old Cunard". It was a particularly British thing and a particularly "olde worlde" British thing at the time of Punk music and inner city riots and therein lay it's charm. It was, and I hope still is, what we Brits do so well,we give you an impeccably crafted product tailored to your needs and we do it with an air of friendly reserve, we'll do anything we can for you, we'll do it discretely and we'll call you sir. It's a bit like the Bobby in the pointy helmet armed with a stick, it's what we Brits feel comfortable with and it fascinates the rest of the world, especially the Americans.
