The cousin of a billionaire who died on the Titan submarine has hit out at Cambridge University students who went ahead with a 'under-the-sea' themed ball while he remained missing.
The May Ball at Pembroke College took place on Wednesday evening as rescuers raced against time to find former student Hamish Harding and four fellow passengers on the tiny submersible vessel.
Wreckage suggesting a catastrophic implosion while underwater was found yesterday evening.
The logo for the college event depicts the stylised helmet of an old-fashioned copper diving suit, accompanied by the words "Nautilus 2023".
Hamish Harding's cousin Kathleen Consett, 69, has slammed event managers and told the Telegraph that the ball's theme was "terrible" given that he once studied there.
She said: "That’s terrible – polite courtesy has missed out on quite a few generations. Ridiculous. They would have had a record of him studying there, I would have thought,"
Organisers earlier defended themselves against criticism on social media, pointing out that the theme of the ball was decided several months before the incident - while admitting that they would change it to a different one now if they "could".
A statement on the May Ball website on the day of the event said: "We are aware of the worrying news about Pembroke alumnus Hamish Harding.
"Today’s May Ball theme was chosen many months ago and if we could change it now, we would.
"All we can say is that we sincerely hope that Mr Harding and the others on board the submarine will be found safe and well. Our thoughts go out to the Harding family at this very difficult time."
The May Ball went ahead on Wednesday as planned, and is reported to have finished at around 5am on Thursday morning.
Musical entertainment is said to have included Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On - famously featured on the soundtrack to 1997 blockbuster Titanic - as well as other nautical-themed songs, according to student publication Varsity.
One student who attended the event told the newspaper that while she felt the event's theme was insensitive in the context of the "really heartbreaking" incident, it was "wrong to blame the committee” for the unfortunate coincidence.
Hamish Harding attended Pembroke College, Cambridge in the 1980s, and later went on to become chairman of private plane firm Action Aviation.
The 58-year-old was one of five people on the 21ft vessel for what should have been an eight-hour trip to the Titanic shipwreck before it mysteriously disappeared.
The OceanGate Expeditions vessel lost contact around an hour and 45 minutes after it submerged, with many experts warning that rescuers may not reach the ocean craft before its oxygen supply runs out.
Breathable air is expected to be fully depleted on the Titan craft around midday today.
A keen explorer, Mr Harding has visited the South Pole multiple times and flew into space last year on Jeff Bezos’s fifth human spaceflight.
He has set three World Records, including for quickest circumnavigation of the earth across the north and south poles - something he managed to achieve in just 46 hours.
