Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria to Meet in Sydney for Cunard Line Anniversary

Two Queens - Cunard's flagship Queen Mary 2 and her younger sister Queen Victoria - will for the first time on Thursday spend the day together in Sydney.

A fireworks display will mark the occasion at 9.15pm, as Queen Mary 2 leaves Circular Quay and sails past Queen Victoria anchored at Athol Buoy near Taronga Zoo.

To celebrate the rendezvous and its 175th anniversary year, Cunard is also launching a photographic exhibition on the boardwalk at the Opera House.

Captured by Sydney photographer James Morgan, who has snapped Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth around the globe, the OneSevenFive exhibition will provide an insight into life onboard.

Featuring 71 images displayed on two-metre-high panels, the collection's final two images - from Thursday's rendezvous - will be installed on Friday morning. The exhibition will remain in place for 175 hours, until Thursday, March 19.

"I think everyone in this city would remember the three very special royal rendezvous of other Cunard ships on our harbour over recent years," said Ann Sherry, chief executive of Carnival Australia, which represents Cunard in Australia. "This Thursday will be no different as Queen Mary 2 and Queen Victoria make history with their first ever joint visit to Sydney."

The 2000-guest Queen Victoria will berth in Sydney about 5.30am on Wednesday, spending the day at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. At about 3.30am the following morning, the 90,000-tonne ship will move from Circular Quay to Athol Buoy to make way for her "big sister", Queen Mary 2, which is scheduled to sail through the heads at 3.45am on Thursday morning.

Still the largest ship to visit Australia, the 151,400-tonne Queen Mary 2 is expected to berth at the Overseas Passenger Terminal about 4.45am on Thursday.

The Sydney visit of the 2600-guest ship comes two months into her 113-night world voyage.

Wednesday March 11

· 4.30am – Queen Victoria sails into Sydney Harbour.

· 5.30am – Queen Victoria berths at Overseas Passenger Terminal, Circular Quay.

Thursday March 12

· 3.30am – Queen Victoria sails from the Overseas Passenger Terminal to berth at Athol Buoy.

· 3.45am – Queen Mary 2 enters Sydney Harbour.

· 4.45am – Queen Mary 2 berths at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

· Noon – OneSevenFive photo exhibition of Cunard's Three Queens on Sydney Opera House's Western Boardwalk opens to public.

· 9pm – Queen Mary 2 departs Overseas Passenger Terminal en route to Milford Sound, New Zealand.

· 9.15pm – Fireworks as Queen Mary 2 sails past Queen Victoria at Athol Buoy.

· 11pm – Queen Victoria sails from Athol Buoy en route to Akaroa, New Zealand.

Previous Cunard Royal Rendezvous in Sydney

· February 20, 2007 – Sydney was brought to a standstill for the city's first official Cunard Royal Rendezvous when Queen Mary 2 made her maiden visit to Australia, meeting with QE2 in Sydney Harbour.

· February 24, 2008 – The newly launched Queen Victoria made her first visit to Sydney for a Royal Rendezvous with QE2, which was making her final call to the city before she retired from the Cunard fleet.

· February 22-23, 2011 – Queen Mary 2 and the newly launched Queen Elizabeth visited Sydney for the city's third Royal Rendezvous.

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Queen to Snub Sydney on Visit

THE Queen is to spend 10 days in Australia next month - but she has given NSW a right royal snub.

The elderly monarch and the Duke of Edinburgh will instead spend their time travelling between Perth, Canberra, Melbourne and Queensland.

The Queen's decision to bypass the state is even more surprising because it is unlikely she will visit Australia again.

Royal observers believe her lengthy and wide-ranging itinerary, from October 19 to 29, indicates she will not visit next year, her Diamond Jubilee.

"The Queen is 85-and-a-half and the Duke is 90 so you can imagine they don't have too many long-haul trips left in them," said Joe Little, managing editor of British royal magazine Majesty.

"Even travelling in the way they do is bound to be a strain."

It will be the Queen's 16th visit to Australia and her first in six years.

She became the first reigning monarch to set foot on Australian soil when at 27 she spent eight weeks touring the country in 1954.

During that trip the royal couple took more than 30 flights and 207 road trips as they criss-crossed the nation, reportedly providing 75 per cent of Australia's population a chance to see the Queen.

This tour will be more low-key and is likely to be made up of hospital and charity engagements, a meeting with Julia Gillard, an official lunch or dinner in her honour and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth.

The Queen is patron of many Australian organisations, including Melbourne's Royal Children's Hospital and the Scout Association.

"A full list of the Queen's engagements and undertakings during her Australian visit will be released next week," a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said yesterday.

LUCY CARNE LONDON From: The Sunday Telegraph September, 2011