Queen Elizabeth and POW will not be NICHE by any stretch of the imagination.
As long as the UK perceives a need for expeditionary warfare they are core. If that role is dropped, as was "East of Suez" they are surplus to requirements.
Without a role, and the full range and equipment, manpower and support to maintain it, then building floating gin palaces would be a complete waste of funds.
The question therefore becomes, has Iraq and Afghanistan turned the next government against expeditionary warfare in the same way Suez did the government of the 60s?
In which case, will the QE2 class suffer t
he same fate as CVA01?