Broadcasters and leading lights in their fields, author Bill Bryson, business guru Lord Digby Jones and eminent Professor of Science and Society Lord Winston are among the speakers who will feature in Cunard’s onboard ‘Insights’ programme during 2013.

The three men complement the array of speakers lined up for Cunard’s four-month Round the World voyages which set sail this month and include:

• Queen Mary 2:  journalist and war correspondent Martin Bell; ex-Formula 1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart; former Chief of the General Staff General Dannatt and ‘Human Planet’ BBC documentary producer Dale Templar

• Queen Elizabeth: Roger McGuinn, lead singer of The Byrds; Royal commentator Jennie Bond; former ambassador and high commissioner Sir Alan Collins and polar explorer Felicity Ashton 

• Queen Victoria: former politician and broadcaster Edwina Currie; author and ‘Queen of cakes’ Jane Asher and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe.

Cunard’s President and Managing Director Peter Shanks said the quality of Cunard’s ‘Insights’ speaker programme was something which set Cunard apart.

“We are delighted to welcome three such pre-eminent and internationally respected figures to our line-up for 2013 who will add an extra dimension to our passengers’ experience on board,” he said.

Internationally renowned as a writer and broadcaster, Bill Bryson is the best-selling author of books such as ‘A Short History of Nearly Everything’. He will step aboard Queen Mary 2 in New York for the October 15 – 27, 2013 ‘Autumn Colours’ voyage.

Known as the “Voice of Business”, Lord Digby Jones was introduced to the world of business through his family’s corner shop. A former Vice President of KPMG, he was head hunted as Director General for the CBI 2000-06, during which time was knighted for his services to business. Lord Digby Jones will join Queen Victoria’s Adriatic Explorer sailing between May 15 and June 1, 2013.

Meanwhile Lord Robert Winston, the first Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College London and Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies there, will sail with Queen Elizabeth between May 26 and June 9, 2013 on the ‘Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Explorer’ cruise.