THE QUEEN OPENS HER PHOTOGRAPHS TO TEH WORLD ON FLICKR

YET ANOTHER SIGN OF THE QUEEN'S DETERMINATION TO MASTER NEW TECHNOLOGY. AFTER EMBRACING YOUTUBE AND TWITTER, BUCKINGHAM PALACE HAS LAUNCHED A NEW FLICKR ACCOUNT RECENTLY CONTAINING MORE THAN 600 PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY AT WORK AND PLAY. SOME OF THE RARELY PUBLISHED IMAGES OF THE QUEEN, THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH, THE PRINCE OF WALES, THE DUCHESS OF CORNWALL, PRINCE WILLIAM, PRINCE HARRY AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL FAMILY WILL DATE BACK WELL OVER A CENTURY, WHILE OTHERS WILL BE FROM AS RECENTLY AS THE QUEEN'S TOUR OF CANADA AND HER VISIT TO NEW YORK EARLIER THIS MONTH. THE MONARCHY'S NEW FLICKR ACCOUNT IS A COLLABORATION BETWEEN BUCKINGHAM PALACE, CLARENCE HOUSE AND ST JAMES'S PALACE. PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE ROYAL ARCHIVE MASTERPIECES OF EARLY BRITISH PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTED BY QUEEN VICTORIA AND PRINCE ALBERT IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19th CENTURY. IN ALL, THERE ARE 28 DIFFERENT SETS OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND THE THEMES INCLUDE THE QUEEN AND THE COMMONWEALTH, ROYAL EVENTS AND CEREMONIES, AND LATEST NEWS AND DIARY. THE QUEEN IS SAID TO BE 'VERY ENTHUSIASTIC' ABOUT THE NEW TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVES AND HAS PERSONALLY APPROVED THE RELEASE OF ARCHIVE PHOTOGRAPHS FEATURING MOMENTOUS AND TOUCHING MOMENTS IN ROYAL HISTORY. THOSE CLOSE TO THE QUEEN, WHO IS 84, HAVE TOLD HOW, ENCOURAGED BY HER GRANDCHILDREN, SHE HAS LONG BEEN KEEN TO LEARN ABOUT NEW TECHNOLOGY. SHE HAS HER OWN PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESS, 'SURFS' THE WEB AND USES A MOBILE PHONE. A SPOKESMAN FOR BUCKINGHAM PALACE SAID: 'THE (FLICKR) LAUNCH IS TIMED TO COINCIDE WITH THE SUMMER OPENING OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE, AS THE SITE HIGHLIGHTS PHOTOGRAPHS SPECIALLY COMMISSIONED FOR THE PALACE'S EXHIBITION, THE QUEEN'S YEAR, WHICH OPENS ON 27.JULY.'
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