Queen, 92, posts on Instagram for the very first time

Danielle Stacey
·Royal Correspondent
The Queen arrives at the Science Museum in London [Photo: Getty]
The Queen arrives at the Science Museum in London [Photo: Getty]

The Queen has posted her first photo on Instagram at the age of 92.

Unfortunately it wasn’t a cute family selfie, but we’re impressed all the same. Her Majesty shared a letter from the Royal Archives while on a visit to the Science Museum in London on Thursday.

The letter was written by Charles Babbage – who is credited as the world’s first computer pioneer – and dressed to great-great-grandfather Prince Albert in 1843.

It was posted on the Royal Family’s official Instagram account, and while there were no emojis, the Queen wrote that she enjoyed learning about children’s computer coding initiatives at the museum, signing off her caption with “Elizabeth R.”

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

A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Mar 7, 2019 at 3:31am PST

The Royal Family’s Instagram page boasts 4.6m followers and the Science Museum’s account commented on the photo: “We’re thrilled that the image is of correspondence from the Royal Archive between Charles Babbage and Your Majesty’s great-great grandfather Prince Albert about the Difference Engine No.1 on display in our Making the Modern World gallery.”

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The Science Museum was also where the Queen sent her first tweet in 2014.

During her visit, Her Majesty also announced the museum’s summer exhibition, Top Secret, and unveiled a new space for supporters, the Smith Centre.

Earlier this week Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace published social media guidelines for their followers, in order to tackle online abuse across their platforms.

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