Queen Elizabeth II life has been steeped in tradition during her nearly 70-year reign, but she has kept up with technological advances during her lifetime.
Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully on Thursday afternoon at her Scottish estate, where she had spent much of the summer.
King Charles III described the passing of his adored mom as a “hugely significant moment in the history of our family and of the world,” one marked by “immense sadness.”
At 18:30 BST the union flag was lowered to half-mast at the palace and a notice of the Queens death was posted outside.
Foreign leaders have paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, describing how she stood with the United States in it’s darkest hours after 9/11 terrorist attacks
In 2020, the 96-year-old monarch participated in her first video conference call as part of her public duties, following in the footsteps of other royals as engagements went online during the epidemic.
In the early years of her reign, she recorded her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957 and spoke about the “rate at which things evolve around us”.
The grainy black-and-white photographs of a young Elizabeth were among the first steps taken by the monarchy to ensure she was current with her ever-altering nation.
Color television, mobile phones, the internet, and social media have come into existence since then. Despite her initial reservations, the Queen allowed television cameras into Westminster Abbey to film her coronation, which took place in 1953.
In 1977, the Queen became the first monarch to email while visiting an Army base in England. Five years later, she made Britain’s first trunk call when she spoke from Bristol to Edinburgh 300 miles away.
The Queen is said to have confessed to Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, that she had not experienced the use of a computer until 2005.
She reportedly had a BlackBerry in the past, which she used to keep up to date with her email while on the go, after receiving advice from her son, Prince Andrew.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie explained the concept of video sharing on YouTube in 2007, before the British monarchy launched its own channel on the site. In 2006, the Queen’s Christmas message was broadcast as a podcast for the first time.
The Queen personally uploaded a video to YouTube during a visit to Google’s London offices in 2008. The monarch entered the social media sphere and allowed her aides to establish Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr accounts, as well as an Instagram profile.
The Queen has also owned several iPods, one of which was said to have classical music, including the Last Night of the Proms, a gift from then-US president Barack Obama, and one from the Duke of Cambridge.
During public appearances, she is said to have found it peculiar to be greeted by a multitude of camera phones. This was the first time the Queen sent a tweet in October 2014 to commemorate the opening of a new Science Museum exhibition.
It read: “I’m delighted to open the Information Age exhibition at the @ScienceMuseum today and hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R.”
She shared pictures from the Science Museum in 2019 for the first time on Instagram. and on the official royal family account, she posted pictures of a letter from 19th century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage to Prince Albert after touching an iPad screen.
Elizabeth has always been fascinated by technology, just as her father George VII did when he overcame his stutter and continued to radio broadcasts. Queen Elizabeth II has always been fond of any innovation that would allow her to get closer to her subjects.
Some of the Queen’s historical technological events in order:
Television
- 1953 – For the the first time the queentelevision cameras were allowed into Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth’s coronation was covered. 500,000 television sets were sold in Britain in the weeks leading up to the event.
- 1957 – Elizabeth’s live Christmas message was broadcast on television for the first time. “Things are changing all around us at breakneck speed,” she said in her speech, “and it is therefore not surprising that some of you are able to see me today.” Since 2006, the message has also been available as a podcast.
Internet
- 1976 – The late Peter Kirstein pioneered Britain’s adoption of TCP/IP and Her Majesty was invited to the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment to view the first introduction of the ARPANET network to the UK.
The queen became the first monarch to send an email at an event where the UK’s first computer network was christened. Her username was HME2
The message said, “This message to all ARPANET users announces the availability on ARPANET of the Coral 66 compiler provided by the GEC 4080 computer at the Royal Signals and Radar Establishment, Malvern, England. Coral 66 is the standard real-time high level language adopted by the Ministry of Defence.”
- 1997 – The Queen inaugurated the royal website www.royal.gov.uk. A new version of the site would be released in 2009
- 2008 – The royal family posted a video of Queen Elizabeth’s Google visit to their official YouTube page (as cited in The Telegraph). While they were there, they couldn’t help but laugh at a viral video of a laughing baby (per The Telegraph).
Social Media
- 2009 – The British monarchy gets its own Twitter account in 2014, but Queen Elizabeth II does not send her first tweet until then.
- 2010 – The royals make appear on Facebook and Flickr. An Instagram account would follow in 2013.
The Queens christmas message
- 2012 – Queen Elizabeth records a Christmas message every year to inform the UK about the past year, but she decided to veer away from the norm in 2012. According to a Buckingham Palace spokesperson, she was charmed by the 3D message
The passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – September 09, 2022
Britain’s first high-tech monarch died peacefully at Balmoral age 96.
https://twitter.com/RoyalFamily/status/1567928275913121792
Queen Elizabeth II has transformed the British monarchy from an austere, closed-off institution into a more public-facing institution both in person and by the use of technology during her 70 years on the throne.
Even though she received very little education, the Queen made a point of educating herself about technology, and she kept up with technological advancements during her early reign.
Concorde was one of her favourite subjects, and she adored it so much that she imitated its landing sounds for her friends. Britain was at the forefront of technological innovation at the time.
The Queen was reportedly a huge fan of tablet computers, having been introduced to those fondleslabs by her grandsons William and Harry. The speed of innovation undoubtedly outpaced the institution she was born into, as someone who was born in an age where computers were room-sized.
UK Prime Minister Liz Truss says Queen Elizabeth II was the cornerstone of modern Britain, while US President Joe Biden described her as a stateswoman of unsurpassed dignity and constancy.
On 3 February 1954, Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, became the first reigning monarchs to set foot on Australian soil after taking the throne in February 1952.
Tech Business News offers its sincerest condolences to the Royal Family. May England’s longest serving Monarch rest in peace.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is succeeded by her son, King Charles lll aged 73
