Did Queen Elizabeth II really send out her historic tweet?

LONDON — Social media was set abuzz when Queen Elizabeth II sent out her first tweet through the British monarchy Twitter account today (Oct 24).

And now, questions are being asked about whether the 88-year-old monarch did actually send out the tweet, after it was observed that the tweet had been sent from an iPhone but the Queen had been typing on a tablet.

Queen Elizabeth II was opening a new gallery in central London’s Science Museum where, as some 600 guests looked on, she removed a glove to type on a touchscreen tablet.

“It is a pleasure to open the Information Age exhibition today at the @sciencemuseum and I hope people will enjoy visiting. Elizabeth R,” said the tweet, sent via the Twitter account @BritishMonarchy. The message, sent at 10.35 GMT, had already been re-tweeted more than 4,000 times less than 45 minutes later. Five hours later, there were more than 18,000 re-tweets. “Elizabeth R” is how the queen signs official documents. The “R” stands for “regina”, the Latin for queen.

But did she really send that tweet? According to TweetDeck, which shows the device or service a tweet is sent from, the Queen's tweet came from an iPhone.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a spokesman for Buckingham Palace saying the Queen did not type the tweet herself. “The Queen approved the text and then subsequently sent it,” he said. A palace spokesman declined to comment on whether the Queen actually sent the tweet, reportedly saying: “We’re not going to get into the processology of this.”

Most members of the royal family do not tweet personally — they are represented by official accounts managed by spokespeople.

The gallery, called Information Age, explores the technological breakthroughs that have changed communication.

The Queen was the first monarch to send an email, in 1976 when the technology was in its infancy.

The Queen’s official Twitter account @BritishMonarchy, which is run by royal aides, has issued 19,000 messages since its inception in 2009 and has some 770,000 followers.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, AP, Reuters