Why is HMS Queen Elizabeth not officially named for Elizabeth II, and was King George V named for a sitting monarch?
Short answerRoyal Navy convention avoids naming ships directly for the reigning monarch; Queen Elizabeth invokes Elizabeth I, while George VI named the later King George V class for his father.
NotesThe aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth is formally associated with the first Queen Elizabeth rather than Elizabeth II. The convention avoids naming a warship directly for the reigning monarch even when the public naturally makes the contemporary connection. The King George V class offers a related example: George VI chose to honour his father rather than himself. That decision produced a second class carrying the King George V name after an earlier prewar class. Royal Navy naming therefore combines dynastic commemoration, inherited ship names, and contemporary symbolism without requiring the official namesake to be the sovereign on the throne.