Queen ‘moved with the times’ with video calls during pandemic

The Queen carried out numerous virtual visits during the Covid-19 crisis.

(Buckingham Palace/PA) (PA Media)

The Queen’s video calls during the pandemic showed her ability to “keep up with the times” until the end of her life, mourners have said.

Much has been said of the late monarch living through unprecedented shifts in the modern age, and technology was no exception.

She saw the advent of colour television, mobile phones, the internet and social media.

In her first televised Christmas broadcast in 1957, the Queen spoke of the “speed at which things change around us”.

The Queen making the Christmas Day broadcast in 1957 (PA) (PA Wire)

As well-wishers gathered at Windsor Castle on Monday to lay bouquets in her memory, several paid tribute to her ability to embrace different mediums.

Ellie Wells, 20, said the Queen’s participation in a video call during the pandemic showed “she was willing to stay with the times”, even in her 90s.

In the call, which quickly went viral, the Queen and the Princess Royal chatted with four carers to celebrate Carers Week.

Visiting from Reading to lay flowers with her mother Kate, Ms Wells said: “I think we’ve all got to get used to the transition from the Queen to our new King.”

She added that she had been impressed when the Queen took part in a video call during the pandemic because it showed she was open to the modern era.

“For younger generations, I liked her Zoom call – it showed she was willing to stay with the times, even at her age.”

I think she was a modern monarch. She was traditional but she moved with the times

Jane Richardson

Jane Richardson, 58, also praised the Queen’s technological prowess, pointing to her video call and the filmed sketch she performed with a computer-generated Paddington Bear for her Platinum Jubilee.

“I think she was a modern monarch,” said Ms Richardson, who had travelled to Windsor from Portsmouth.

“She was traditional but she moved with the times.

“She’s just been in our lives so long, it’s going to be very strange without her.”

Fashion collector Leslie Claridge, 64, described the Queen as the “hardest working woman certainly ever” who had managed to adapt to the “modern age” during her long reign.

Well-wishers at Windsor Castle (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA Wire)

“Probably the hardest working monarch ever covering what she’s covered in this modern age,” she said.

“It’s about being a moral rock and I think that’s exactly what she did.”

The Queen carried out numerous virtual visits during the Covid-19 crisis.

She remarked on a video call to celebrate KPMG’s 150th anniversary: “Well, thank goodness for technology, so one can still do this.”

For the first time, she held her Privy Council meetings by videolink, received the oath of allegiance from a newly appointed archbishop online and carried out virtual diplomatic audiences for foreign ambassadors.

Meanwhile, as the Windsors stayed apart during lockdown, the Queen kept in touch with her royal relatives using Zoom and FaceTime.