From the mouth of Her Majesty! Queen Elizabeth II posted her very first Instagram on Thursday, March 7 — and it was the perfect throwback.
“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,” the queen, 92, captioned a series of photos of a handwritten letter on the royal family’s official page. “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.”
The post continued: “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.”
Queen Elizabeth concluded the post with a nod to the technology industry. “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,” she wrote.
Following the monarch’s Instagram debut, the royal family account shared special pictures of Her Majesty taking in the sights and knowledge at the Science Museum, including watching “primary school children playing with robots.”
Another post read: “Her Majesty views the computer on which @timberners_lee created the World Wide Web as well as items featured in @sciencemuseum’s new major exhibition: Top Secret, in collaboration with @GCHQ.”
Kensington Palace and the royal family accounts document and share the ventures of the queen as well as her grandchildren Prince William and Prince Harry, their wives, Duchess Kate and Duchess Meghan, respectively, among other members of the brood.
Social media guidelines were put into place by the Palace earlier this month amid rumors that Meghan and Kate are feuding, garnering messages of online abuse from followers. The family banned “obscene, offensive, threatening, abusive, hateful” and discriminatory posts by commenters.
