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The topic here is how herculean some make pronouncing Cunard.

No need to check. Some people say such things, which was never disputed.

Barring those who fancy they are putting on the style, native English-speakers prefer the shortest route. Examples of preferring the shorter way: Do you say 'WENNS-dy', 'WED-nez-day' or even 'WED-'nz-day' as a few do? Do you way 'SEV-ral' or 'SEV-er-'l' as a few do? Syllables with vowel-sounds like 'eh-ee' ie 'a', 'ee', ie, 'e', 'ah-ee' ie, 'i', 'oh-oo' ie, 'o', and 'yew' ie, 'u' are harder to say than 'ah', 'eh' 'ih', short 'aw' as in 'cot', or long 'uhh' or barely any 'uh' like the schwah-sound in the 1st 'a' in 'parade'. In different, unstressed English syllables, the schwah can replace a lot more than one vowel. That means depending on the unstressed vowel, the schwah can replace a 'a', an 'e', an 'i', an 'o', or a 'u'--just not more than one per unstressed syllable. In the US, some speakers accent 1st syllables in words like 'idea', 'hotel' and many others, with quite rustic effect. That is how 'CUE-nard' strikes me. As to words not stressed on the 1st syllable, I doubt un-posh Britons wanting to sound posh, ever imagined how hickish 'jag-GYEW-ahr' ie, 'jaguar' sounds. The disease spread to 'gyew-WAHT-erh-ma-la' [Guatemala] 'bye-LING-gyew-'l [bilingual] and other gems. Same applies to to 'KYEW-nard'. It's just harder to say. Yet, one contributor who would surely know says Cunard ship captains say it as 'cue-NARD'. The 'yew'-pronunciation is the hardest for a 'u' and doubly so in a stressed syllable. Cunard ship captains apparently go easy on themselves putting the 'yew' sound in 'Cunard's' 1st syllable and leaving stress for its last syllable.

If the ship captains said ' kyew-NARD ' , good enough for me too. But ' KEW-nard ', with stress on 1st syllable as in US radio ads, sounds Appalachian and, is just harder to say. Easiest of all is ' k'-NARD ', as I always heard it.

I am an 84 year-old American, who never travelled via Cunard. Before transatlantic flights became common in the 1950s or 1960s, many of the older generation around me went from England to the US and back via Cunard. Maybe 1/3d were English. While Cunard was not a steady conversational topic, discussing one's (Americans & English) travel arrangement frequently was okay. If they ever mentioned non-Cunard ocean liners it made no impression. Cunard seemed the gold standard . They always said ' k'-NARD ', never 'CUE-nard '. Who knows how the original Cunard family said their name? But think about it. Which pronunciation is easier? Do English-speakers normally choose an easier pronunciation over a harder one? Only Britons who assume that some harder pronunciation makes a word sound more posh. First, 'jaguar' became ' JAG-yew-arr ' instead of 'JAG-warr'. Next, the habit spread to 'bilingual', ie ' bye-LING-gyew-all' instead of ' bye-LING-gwal '. then 'Guatemala' became ' gyew-AHT-erh-mah-lah ' instead of ' GWAH-terh-ma-la '. Eventually, some Britons may refer to their late monarch as the ' kew-EEN ' vs. the ' KWEEN'. Until they discover the island of Anguilla, it remains for now ' ann-GWILL-ah '. My money is on the easier pronunciation. Even most Britons prefer not to over-pronounce.