The Queen will pay a farewell visit to the QE2 ahead of the Cunard liner's retirement from service.
Baroness Thatcher will be among 300 guests who will be with the Queen on the vessel which is docked at Southampton.
Launched by the Queen in September 1967 at the John Brown Shipyard on the Clyde in Scotland, the QE2 will make its final sailing - to Dubai - in November.
Among those meeting the Queen will be Captain Peter Jackson who became master of the ship in 1973 and took it to the Falklands as a troop ship in 1982.
He will be one of nine QE2 captains on board on Monday as will be the vessel's long-serving female crew member Roz Price Evans, who will present the Queen with 55 red roses to mark the 55th anniversary of the Coronation.
The QE2 was Cunard's flagship for 35 years until the arrival of the QM2. The QE2 has travelled more than 6.4 million miles - more than any other ship - and carried more than 2.5 million passengers.
It has completed 25 world cruises and crossed the Atlantic 803 times. Last year it was announced that the Dubai World company was buying the QE2 for £50 million.
The vessel will end its days as a luxury hotel, retail and leisure attraction alongside Palm Jumeirah, a huge man-made island just off the coast of Dubai.
Dubai World chairman Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayam said that he values "the rich heritage of the QE2". He said the ship was legendary and that its name "continues to evoke dreams".
