Modern monarch Queen Elizabeth launches Facebook page

Modern monarch Queen Elizabeth launches Facebook page

Queen Elizabeth II has joined social networking site Facebook, with official pages announcing her royal engagements and other regular updates, Buckingham Palace announced this weekend.

The pages will feature news articles, pictures and video clips of the 84-year-old British monarch and the rest of the British royal family, including her grandsons William and Harry.

Facebook’s 500 million users will be allowed to post comments and read details of the Queen’s activities in different locations. The page would be available beginning Monday.

But the crucial thing is that her Facebook page is a corporate one and not personal, so she won’t be receiving friend requests anytime soon.

A palace official said that the Queen has never used Facebook but did give her approval of the plan in order to reach out to more people.

“The decision went right up to the Queen,” said the anonymous official. “If you are going to have an online presence in 2010, you just have to be on Facebook.”

Facebook is the latest foray into the Internet by the royal family. They launched a YouTube channel in 2007, signed up for Twitter in 2009, and they also have a Flickr account. Buckingham Palace launched its website back in 1997, letting people apply online, use Google Maps to track royal engagements, or read about the Queen’s corgi dogs.

The official Facebook page will have the British court circular which is the official record of royal engagements, including diary appointments. The circular was set up in 1803 by George III.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Monday November 08 2010, 3:41 AM EST. Ref: AP. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0