Queen Elizabeth II Goes Digital For Holidays
By Leslie Poston
Every year, Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II addresses the public at 3:00 PM on Christmas Day. It was expected that she would address the public in the usual manner, live and on BBC radio and television. The Queen has other ideas of how to reach the masses, however; thanks to her granddaughters.
The BBC has been chastised lately for its decision to launch an online content video player called iPlayer that is so behind the time it only works on the deprecated browser Windows Internet Explorer. Of course, I use the term works loosely here, since not much really “works” on Internet Explorer. Had the Queen chosen to stick solely with the BBC, a good portion of the world’s viewers would have missed her message due to compatibility issues.
Thankfully she listened to granddaughters Beatrice and Eugenie instead, which means we can all enjoy hearing her speak on Christmas Day. The monarchy created a channel on YouTube recently called The Royal Channel, and users of YouTube can tune in on Christmas Day to hear the Queen, in a universal format that works for everyone.
Not only is it nice to see the Royal Family catching up with the times, it’s nice to see them do it via a player that is universal. That means anyone can tune in, not just the handful of people who still use Internet Explorer native applications. This is proof positive that the next generation of Royals will be leading England into a tech savvy future.
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December 24th, 2007
Queen Elizabeth is referred to as Her Majesty, and not Her Royal Highness. HRH is the designation of her children and some other members of the Royal Family.
December 24th, 2007
Queen Elizabeth is referred to as Her Majesty, and not as Her Royal Highness. HRH is used for her children and some other members of the Royal family.
December 24th, 2007
Not according to the rules of etiquette consulted for this article, and I must go by the official rules of grammar and etiquette consulted. Thanks for reading!
December 25th, 2007
It seems like the Royals are slighting the BBC. If I remember correctly, there was some friction in recent years regarding the Christmas message. The Beeb has acted arogantly in the past and has been a little out of line with their iPlayer lately as well. That may be part of the story as well as the granddaughters’ influence.
December 25th, 2007
If you read the full article you’ll see I covered those points fully.
December 25th, 2007
@Leslie Poston: I just took the time to look up what I was hinting at in my previous comment. It was in 1995 that Buckingham Palace announced the end of the BBC monopoly and it took effect in ‘97. That’s recent to me. It was a bit of a shock to many people. The BBC wanted to air an interview with Diana and Buckingham Palace took execption. If you missed the stories, they’re worth looking up. Anyway, your article is good and well written.