The queen: On Facebook, but not your friend
Queen Elizabeth II, a personage of renowned tech-forward proclivities, joins Facebook. But you will not be able to befriend her.
Ever since Helen Mirren played her in a movie, Queen Elizabeth II has enjoyed something of an image makeover.
When I grew up over there, it was tempting to believe that her majesty enjoyed such a royal highness that she wasn't always attuned to those who endured a less than regal lowness.
However, in recent times, she has used many of the technological tools at her disposal to make herself more accessible to the small world at large.
The bells at Westminster Abbey should, therefore, be ringing to welcome the queen to Facebook.
Yes, a lively little royal Facebook page has appeared and, at the time of writing, more than 77,000 people have already declared just how much they like it.
Lest you should imagine that you will be able, in some fit of drunken giggles, to make personal contact with her majesty, via, say, an invitation to be your friend, may I be the first to disabuse you?
This Facebook page is more of a corporate affair. It exists merely to offer the technological equivalent of what is called, in posh English newspapers, the Court Circular.
You will be able to discover what the queen's engagements are and what ceremonies she might be performing. You will not be able to discover that the queen has just enjoyed some fine bacon, eggs and mushrooms, topped off with a little HP brown sauce.
The queen already enjoys a presence on Twitter and YouTube. She is also extremely iPod-friendly.
I fancy, though, that the queen's advisers ought to loosen her reins just a little. The queen's deep fondness for horses and other farm animals surely makes her a prime candidate for FarmVille. Please imagine the astonishment among the populace to discover that Britain's queen is looking after her donkeys just as well as you are.