When it comes to technology, Queen Elizabeth II made sure to champion innovation throughout her reign.
From sending an email back in 1976 to posting tweets and photos on Instagram in the 2010s, he embraced digital media.
Even before she was queen, she used a radio address to comfort children around the world during the war.
In his youth, he promoted technology like emails, staying smart well into his old age, even if he sometimes needed a little help from his grandchildren.
Here are some of Queen’s most notable technological milestones:
Communication
Death of Queen Elizabeth II: key details
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has died after 70 years on the throne, and her death was announced by Buckingham Palace on September 8, 2022.
She died at the age of 96 surrounded by her family at her Balmoral home, including her son and heir to the throne Charles, the Prince of Wales, and her grandchildren, the Duke of Cambridge, Prince William and the Duke of Sussex, the Prince Harry.
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- Radio: Before ascending the throne, the young Princess Elizabeth gave her first public speech on the radio during World War II. The queen-to-be and her sister Margaret delivered a message of hope for the children of the Commonwealth during the speech.
- TV: You probably know that the Queen’s coronation in 1953 was a major television event, fueling a boom in home television sales. What you may not have heard is that it was not only filmed in color, but also shot using experimental 3D technology.
- Email: The Queen was the first monarch to send an email in 1976, when she used an early computer network called ARPNET to send a technical update about the service.
- Website: In 1997, the Queen launched the first official website of the royal family.
- Video call: In 2007, the Queen spoke to astronauts on the International Space Station via video link at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, USA.
- Social networks: Queen Elizabeth posted a video on YouTube in 2008, a tweet in 2014 and a photo on Instagram in 2019.
Devices
- Mobile phone: Prince Andrew is believed to have given his mother a mobile phone in 2010. Wary of the devices’ potential for harm, a guest at the 2016 garden party said the Queen didn’t like her grandchildren spending too much time time with their phones.
- Computer: The Queen was thought to have a computer, but she apparently told that same guest that she needed the help of her grandchildren to use it properly.
- Mp3 player: It’s long been rumored that he had at least one iPod, but a silver MP3 player was finally spotted on a table at Balmoral Castle in 2017. It hasn’t been confirmed if this was the device the Obamas gave away in 2009.
- Tablet: The Queen added a tablet full of recorded memories from the past 60 years to the Royal Collection to mark her Diamond Jubilee in 2012. With stories from more than 37,000 volunteers, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 is considered a digital time capsule.
Transportation
- trains: In 1969, the Queen opened London’s Victoria underground line, named after her great-great-grandmother. She took the tube from Oxford Circus to Victoria Station to celebrate the occasion.
- planes: A passenger on the inaugural flight from Barbados to London of the supersonic Concorde in 1977, the Queen was photographed taking a tour of the cabin.
- cars: Eschewing professional chauffeurs, Queen Elizabeth was often depicted driving alone during her reign. She drove an ambulance during World War II and was even seen driving around the Windsor Estate as a nonagenarian.
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