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Buckingham Palace opened its Instagram account, @theroyalfamily, in 2013 to share photos of the royals during official events. The account now has more than four million followers.

View this post on Instagram

Today, as I visit the Science Museum I was interested to discover a letter from the Royal Archives, written in 1843 to my great-great-grandfather Prince Albert. Charles Babbage, credited as the world’s first computer pioneer, designed the “Difference Engine”, of which Prince Albert had the opportunity to see a prototype in July 1843. In the letter, Babbage told Queen Victoria and Prince Albert about his invention the “Analytical Engine” upon which the first computer programmes were created by Ada Lovelace, a daughter of Lord Byron. Today, I had the pleasure of learning about children’s computer coding initiatives and it seems fitting to me that I publish this Instagram post, at the Science Museum which has long championed technology, innovation and inspired the next generation of inventors. Elizabeth R. PHOTOS: Supplied by the Royal Archives © Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Mar 7, 2019 at 3:31am PST

Queen Elizabeth's Instagram post is not her first foray into social media. She sent her first tweet during a visit to the Science Museum in 2014 and sent her first email decades earlier, in 1976, according to Buckingham Palace.

\"PHOTO:
Simon Dawson/Reuters
PHOTO: Britain's Queen Elizabeth visits the Science Museum in London, March 7, 2019.
>

The royal family earlier this week announced new guidelines for its social media channels after reports of online abuse around Queen Elizabeth's granddaughters-in-law, Duchesses Kate and Meghan.

The new guidelines issued by Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and Kensington Palace say the palaces reserve the right to block users and send comments that breach the guidelines to the police.

(MORE: 'Fab Four' join Queen Elizabeth to celebrate Prince Charles' anniversary)

\"We ask that anyone engaging with our social media channels shows courtesy, kindness and respect for all other members of our social media communities,\" read a statement issued Monday.

The proactive step by the royals came just a few weeks after Hello! magazine reported that Kensington Palace aides devote hours each week to moderating and deleting violent, sexist and racist comments on social media directed at Kate, the wife of Prince William, and Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry.

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