The Queen has seen all kinds of new technology over the years. Many of them shape the world we live in today.
From self-checkout systems in supermarkets to early email systems, he was impressed and sometimes skeptical of innovations.
His interest is also reflected in members of the royal family who came before him, such as his great-grandfather, Prince Albert.
Queen Victoria’s husband became interested in early computer technology after seeing a prototype of a “difference engine” proposed by computer scientist Charles Babbage.
Babbage later wrote Prince privately to share more information about his pioneering work.
Continuing the tradition, Queen Elizabeth II explored new technologies during her reign.
June 4, 2020: Queen joins the first lockdown video call
Sitting comfortably in an oak room at Windsor Castle, the Queen made her first video call since the coronavirus shut down the country.
Queen Elizabeth called on four carers to talk about the challenges they are facing during the pandemic. She was also joined by her daughter, Princess Anne, who patiently helped him get Webex video chat up and running.
The Queen will continue to use video calling technology and has virtually hosted 118 of her 192 engagements in 2021.
During the lockdown, royal staff were issued an ‘HMS bubble’. Even after the lockdown was lifted, the Queen continued to carry out parts of the engagement using video call technology.
May 22, 2019: The Queen uses a supermarket vending machine
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Queen Elizabeth probably saw a self-checkout machine for the first time when she visited Sainsbury’s Supermarket for her 150th anniversary.
When asked about the device’s security measures, he was pleased to learn that a scale was included to prevent customers from adding additional products to the scanner.
He was also shown a business application which he described as an “interesting tool”.
Oct 24, 2014: The Queen tweets from her tablet for the first time
In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II sent the first tweet from a tablet at the Science Museum in London.
He attended the museum’s “Information Age” exhibit, which celebrates the evolution of communication technology over the years.
October 2008: The Queen explores Windsor Castle via Google Maps
During a tour of Google’s UK headquarters, the Queen uploaded a video to YouTube and took home some snippets of the search engine’s code.
She and Prince Philip also had the chance to see familiar sights from the comfort of their computer screens. They did a Google Maps tour with Big Ben and Windsor Castle.
May 8, 2007: The Queen visits the NASA Space Flight Center
Queen Elizabeth II became interested in extraterrestrial technology after visiting NASA’s Goddard Flight Center in Maryland, USA, in 2007.
During the trip, he saw imaging system demonstrations, toured satellite buildings and made video calls with astronauts on the space station.
Oct 8, 2001: The Queen Examines Flashing Batons
In 2001, Queen Elizabeth II was photographed holding an electronic baton to celebrate the Commonwealth Games. The device’s blue light is designed to flash in rhythm with the user’s heartbeat.
Like the Olympic torch, the ceremonial baton traditionally travels to many Commonwealth countries to commemorate the Games held every four years.
This year’s iteration was more high-tech than ever with image sensors, GPS, LED lights and mechanized cameras containing the Queen’s message to the Commonwealth.
November 2, 1977: The Queen inspects a Concorde aircraft
Queen Elizabeth II looks around the cockpit of the supersonic Concorde as it flew from Bridgetown, Barbados in 1977.
He flew home from a tour of the Commonwealth celebrating the Silver Jubilee.
March 26, 1976: The Queen sends an email very early.
The Queen sent the letter as early as 1976, years before commercial companies like AOL started serving ordinary people.
His message was very technical, telling users of an early computer network called the “ARPANET” that the “Coral 66” language was now available.
But computer scientist Peter Kirstein told WIRED that he set up the system to only require him to “push two buttons.”
For those interested, the email says: . . “Coral 66 is the standard high-level real-time language used by the Department of Defense.
December 12, 1967: The queen looking through a telescope
The Queen was photographed around the Isaac Newton Large Telescope at the Royal Greenwich Observatory in Hurstmaw, Sussex in 1967.
He was there to open a telescope with a 98-inch mirror donated by the United States. Isaac Newton was then transported to La Palma in the Canary Islands, where he was given an even larger mirror.
He went on to reuse the historic 28-inch refracting telescope at the observatory some ten years later.
December 5, 1958: The Queen makes a long distance call
In 1958, Queen Elizabeth II made a long-distance call to the Chancellor of Edinburgh.
According to the Telephone Museum, this was the first long distance call made in England. It was created from the Central Telephone Exchange in Bristol.
In the video above, you can see him looking at the screen about the phone technology before making the call and it says: This is Queen from Bristol. Hello, my diocesan.
Source: Metro
I’m Jeffery Bryant, and I’m an experienced author specializing in automobile news. For the past several years, I have been working as a writer in a well-known news website. During this time, I’ve written hundreds of articles covering automotive trends and developments both nationally and internationally.