It is the latest way for the Queen to engage her public. Hundreds of royal photographs have been placed online by Buckingham Palace. Some images are historic. Others were taken just weeks ago. The aim --- to illustrate the work of modern monarchy and make it accessible to everyone.
"She has to embrace new technology because that's what all the youngsters are using today. So things like Twitter or example of that. I think she basically wants to be down with the kids, hoped they follow her when they are younger as much as when they are older too. "
Some of the photographs on Flickr include rarely seen childhood images of the Queen. They're family portraits throughout the years. Some pictures date back to the 1800s taken by the pioneers of photography and collected by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Others feature the future of the monarchy taking part in royal engagements. The Queen is also captured recently, on tour in Canada, and New York and to latest garden parties.
Over the years, the Queen has strived to embrace technology and innovation. In 2007, the Royal Channel began broadcasting on YouTube, it has 30,000 subscribers, and more than 9 million people have viewed its uploads. The Monarchy Twitter account opened last year, and has 40,000 followers. And the new royal website--- the British Monarchy--- attracts up to 300,000 visitors a week.
Since the Queen has launched things like her Royal website, and had her Royal Channel on YouTube. It's attracted a lot of subscribers and a lot of viewers across the world. So actually there is a market for royal photography certainly, and all probably the people both in Britain, but also overseas in countries like America that really follow the royal family closely.
Buckingham Palace's Flickr account will go live on Monday. There are 600 images ready to view, with the promise, the site will be regally updated.
Lisa Dowd, SKY NEWS
