A royal affair: Three seafaring Queens rendezvous in New York

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The Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria sailed past the Statue of Liberty under the cover of darkness last night, as the sky was lit up by dazzling fireworks.

It was the only time in the 168-year history of the Cunard Line, that the three grand ships had met in port.

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The Queen Elizabeth 2, Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria met in port and sailed together past the Statue of Liberty

"This is the first time they've all met," Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line, which operates the three ships, said.

"It's not only special because it's the first time we've had these three ships together, it's special because it will never happen again," she said. "This is a truly momentous occasion."

It took Cunard two years to prepare for the occasion. The company had to plan each of the ship's itineraries to make sure the vessels would converge in New York on the same day.

The Queen Victoria is on her maiden world cruise after she was launched last month. She has a two-deck library that contains more than 60,000 books and a theatre with private boxes.

Victoria is headed for the Caribbean alongside the Queen Mary 2, which was launched in 2004.

The Queen Elizabeth 2, which is due to be retired in November to become a floating hotel in Dubai, was headed for South America at the start of her final world cruise.

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The Queen Victoria is on her maiden voyage while the Queen Elizabeth II is on her final voyage

Since she was launched by her namesake in 1967, the QE2 has carried 2.5million passengers some five million nautical miles, made 25 trips around the world and more than 800 transatlantic crossings.

Cunard Line is building a new Queen Elizabeth at Italy's Fincantieri shipyard for 2010. The new vessel will be Cunard's second-largest after the QM2 and will allow them to keep three Queens in service after the QE2 retires.