Queen Elizabeth II's First Instagram Post

07/03/2019

Born on April 21st, 1926, Queen Elizabeth II is 92 years at this date.

And here, the British monarch made her debut post on Instagram, showcasing her visit to the Science Museum in London to the Royal Family's 4.8 million followers.
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With the post, she shared a picture of a 19th-century letter from computer pioneer Charles Babbage to her great-great-grandfather, Prince Albert.

Her Royal Highness signed her post “Elizabeth R”, in which the "R" stands for Regina, Latin for Queen.

Instagram acknowledged the Queen's use of its platform by commenting "yes queen" with a crown emoji on her post.

Not using hashtags '#' like what Instagram users normally would, including her grandchildren and great grandchildren, the Queen's post had gathered over 57,000 likes in the first three hours, and more than 200,000 likes in less than 24 hours.



View this post on Instagram


Today, as I visit the Science Museum I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert.  Charles Babbage, credited as the world’s first computer pioneer, designed the “Difference Engine”, of which Prince Albert had the opportunity to see a prototype in July 1843.  In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention the “Analytical Engine” upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron.  Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children’s computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors. Elizabeth R. PHOTOS: Supplied by the Royal Archives © Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

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The post read:

"Today, as I visit the Science Museum I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert."

"Charles Babbage, credited as the world's first computer pioneer, designed the 'Difference Engine', of which Prince Albert had the opportunity to see a prototype in July 1843."

"In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention the 'Analytical Engine' upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron."

"Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children's computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology and innovation, and inspired the next generation of inventors."

"Elizabeth R."

Queen Elizabeth II walks with London Science Museum Director Ian Blatchford
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II walks with London Science Museum Director Ian Blatchford during her visit to the museum in March 7, 2019

The Royal family's presence on social media has been a huge success, with some 3.87 million accounts following its Twitter feed and 1.69 million following Kensington Palace, the official account for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

More than 7 million Instagram users follow the Kensington Royal account.

The Instagram accounts were set up in 2013, made to invite the world to observe the life of the Royals by sharing images of them doing charity work, Royal visits to foreign countries to meet high-profile people, attending ceremonies and celebrating family events.

But just like any account on social media, the Royals' accounts are also vulnerable to trolls and abuse, especially the duchesses, Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton.

This prompted the Royals to issue social media community guidelines, in which to let people know that anyone who posts offensive comments will either be blocked or reported to the police. It urged followers to practice "courtesy, kindness and respect" in interacting with each other and royalty.

The Queen is known for keeping up with technology.

In 1976, she was the first monarch to send an email. And in 2014, she made her first Twitter tweet at the opening of the "Information Age" exhibition at London's Science Museum.