The Queen has posted her first message on Instagram at a new Science Museum exhibition in London.
The monarch made history as she touched an iPad screen and shared photos of a letter sent to her great-great-grandfather.
The Queen posted photos of a letter from 19th century inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage to her great-great-grandfather Prince Albert in 1843.
Babbage, known as a pioneer of the computer, wrote to Prince Albert about his Analytical Engine – a machine that could perform calculations using punched cards. It also had a memory unit to store numbers.
View the moment here:
The Queen was applauded as she shared the post, which she signed off “Elizabeth R”, to the Royal Family’s 4.6 million followers on the photo-sharing platform.
She wrote: “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.”
View the entry here: