Mobile technology is causing a “strange” experience for the Queen

Queen Elizabeth II mobile technology

Queen Elizabeth has said “I miss eye contact” when it comes to meeting people in the crowds.

Mobile technology has now become a central part of the experience as the Queen or any other member of the house of Windsor makes their way through the throngs of people that are always waiting at every location to which they travel.

Every moment she makes as she meets with the people is recorded over smartphones and tablets.

This trend with mobile technology has been growing over the years, to the point that it has started to frustrate the Queen. Naturally, she understands that photographs and video recordings will be taken, as they always have, but nowadays, with the popularity of the selfie, the royals are more likely to see the back of someone’s head as they pose for a shot with the device user in the foreground and the royal in the background, than they are to actually see someone’s face.

This statement by the Queen about mobile technology is unique as she has always been someone who loves modern tech.

Queen Elizabeth II mobile technologyThough the Queen is more than used to being photographed and she has always embraced the latest technologies, she isn’t loving the experience of walking by a sea of mobile devices instead of being able to make actual eye contact. When Her Majesty spoke with the U.S. ambassador, Matthew Barzun, she expressed that she feels that it is “strange” to look up to see an ocean of smartphones and the backs of people’s heads.

Barzun explained that he had a “nice chat” with the Queen, adding that “She was essentially saying: ‘I miss eye contact’.”

Even guests at various functions are starting to disappear behind small screens. Royal garden party guests have been bringing their smartphones and mobile devices with them over the last few years, causing the Queen to find herself staring at a device instead of at the guest, him or herself.

At the same, though, Queen Elizabeth appears to have remained a good sport about this new mobile technology trend. In fact, she has been known to photobomb the selfies that some people have been taking, without the knowledge that she had been there. Among the most notable among those little pranks occurred in July at the Commonwealth Games, when her smiling face popped into a picture behind two Australian hockey players who had been taking a picture of themselves.

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