Queen Elizabeth II Science Independent

1926 — 2022

A Queen of Innovation

With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, we look back at her life and the way she embraced science whole-heartedly, during her 70-year reign. For a position and status that relied so heavily on tradition, the Queen was remarkably open to innovation, trying out new technologies, making them work for the monarchy and probing what was new and next.

By Richard Forsyth

As recently as March 2021, the Queen joined a panel in a virtual science showcase, to mark British Science Week. She talked about meeting the ‘fascinating’ Yuri Gagarin at Buckingham Palace – the first man in space, and was shown images of the Martian landscape and a meteorite that fell to Earth in the UK. Her curt wit and curiosity were evident during the virtual session.

The Queen had a healthy attitude to technology and the benefits, strides and ambition that comes with it. A glance to her past and it becomes apparent quickly that she wanted to know how things worked. In World War II she served Britain by volunteering in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) to become a mechanic, arms deep in engines on many days, something that at the time may have been unusual, within a culture of gender stereotyping. She wasn’t afraid of the ‘technical’, nor hesitant to embrace and master the then typically male-dominated areas of machinery and technology.

1926 — 2022

An Early Adopter

More accurately, she was an active pioneer of the latest innovations. It was typical of her to adopt new platforms to deliver her messages to the people of Britain.

In a speech broadcast on the radio on her 21st birthday in 1947, she said, “There is a motto which has been borne by many of my ancestors – a noble motto, ‘I serve’. Those words were an inspiration to many bygone heirs to the Throne when they made their knightly dedication as they came to manhood. I cannot do quite as they did. But through the inventions of science I can do what was not possible for any of them. I can make my solemn act of dedication with a whole Empire listening. I should like to make that dedication now. It is very simple.”

Continuing this commitment, the Queen was the first British monarch to give a televised Christmas address to the nation in 1957, usurping radio broadcast.

On reflection it is hardly surprising she understood the power of this new medium, her televised coronation had been largely responsible for its leapfrogging of radio broadcast and our mass enjoyment of television today. Her coronation in 1953 was heralded as a live televised event and because of that, TV sales had an unprecedented boom. Television licenses increased from 763,000 in 1851 to 3.2 million in 1954. It was a tipping point and a transformational moment for television. In the UK around eight million people watched the coronation from homes and around 10 million packed into other people’s houses for a chance to watch this historic event, albeit in grainy black and white. It was the catalyst for television as the dominant home media. It was not just a scramble for TVs in Britain, as this was the first televised event to be broadcast internationally. The Queen saw its benefits for delivering her messages.

AT COP26 she urged the world leaders to create a “safer, stabler future” and she indicated people hoped the “time for words has now moved to the time of action.”

She was what you could term, an early adopter and was well informed and interested in innovations.

The Queen had access to many of the transformational technologies as they were fledgling but have since formed the backbone of our modern world. She was the first monarch to send an email in 1976, from a telecommunications research facility, on a new network called ARPANet – the email delivered an update about the service.

In 1997 the Queen endorsed the royal family’s official website. The Royal family subsequently had selected social media accounts set up and managed by staff but in 2019 the Queen created a media storm when she sent an Instagram post by herself. It read: “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.’

The content of the post and the post itself showed her unwavering fascination with the advances of science. new premises at Carlton House in 1967 and launched a scheme of China Royal Fellowships in 1986 to promote scientific exchange. More than simply exploiting technologies, the Queen actively sought to ramp up interest, achievements and collaborations in science and engineering.

In 2013, she presented a £1 million prize (Queen Elizabeth Engineering Prize) to innovative projects that benefit humanity. She said with her trademark no-nonsense logic: “Engineering is basically about using science to come up with creative and practical solutions.”

She was also the patron of The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). In a letter on the IET’s 150th anniversary in 2021, the Queen wrote to the Institute and said: ‘Engineers have created solutions to global challenges and continue to improve the lives of millions of people all over the world. This anniversary provides an opportunity to thank and recognise the dedication and hard work of all those working in engineering and technology who, every day, make a difference to society.’

The Queen was keen to increase the tally of university-educated scientists and engineers and to promote and showcase the latest breakthroughs in research. She understood the important place science had in the progress of economies, humanity, the world and all of our personal lives.

Watching Change from the Front Seat

As the Queen, part of her role was launching new technologies in front of the public and media, allowing her to see them up close whilst being given personal tours and explanations from innovators. She accumulated a

More accurately, she was an active pioneer of the latest innovations. It was typical of her to adopt new platforms to deliver her messages to the people of Britain.

Royal Zooms and 3D Head of State

The Queen has been no stranger to video calling. One of her most memorable must have been a video call to astronauts on the International Space Station at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland, in 2007. However, like most of us, it was the period when the Covid-19 pandemic put the UK into lockdown when Queen Elizabeth embraced video calling from Windsor Castle. She flipped to the technology to be able to chat to carers about their experiences during the difficult period, where personal visits were prohibited. Since that engagement, she reportedly used video calling so regularly, that in 2021 a total of 118 of her 192 engagements were held via a video calling platform.

Beyond keeping attune to the everyday advantages of technologies, the Queen also indulged in more creative pursuits with it. In 2004 the Queen allowed artist Chris Levine and holographer Rob Munday to create a holographic image of her head and shoulders. She was required to sit perfectly still for some time, surrounded by gadgets and cameras as they scanned her every line and pore. The Queen consistently showed us she was resilient when it came to experimenting with technologies in front of the cameras and onlookers. For instance, she did not shy away from donning large, dark 3D glasses in 2010 at the University of Sheffield to grasp a project, as the press circled. Her willingness to engage with devices like these was a testament to her openness to explore new ways of doing things without fear.

Promoting Science

The Queen was the Patron of the Royal Society since 1952, the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence (founded in 1660), and associated with eminent scientists like Christopher Wren, Isaac Newton and Joseph Banks. In 1965 she added another medal to The Royal Medals (awards by the Society) for applied sciences. She also opened the society’s wealth of knowledge first-hand. She would be invited to visit and observe everything from self-service checkout machines to power plants and she was often the first to experience technologies, or the first monarch, at least. For instance, she was at the opening of the world’s first nuclear power station at Calder Hall, in Cumberland, where she was applauded by onlookers for pulling a lever which sent electricity from the power station into the National Grid. She was also one of the first people to ride through the Channel Tunnel linking the UK to Europe, and she was the first British monarch to travel on the tube train, when she opened the Victoria line in the London Underground in 1969. Her experiences are threaded through historic moments of engineering and innovation, as a participant, an onlooker and as a reflection of their importance.

She was ever attentive and ever ready to ask questions about their operation and the advantages they provided. Her status, the strength of her brand and PR, was the ultimate endorsement for technologies that were deemed potentially transformational.

It was not just the purely technological, engineering side of science that the Queen cared about. She was also critically aware of the bigger issues that impact us all, such as climate change and she used her position to emphasise important messages around this. AT COP26 she urged the world leaders to create a “safer, stabler future” and she indicated people hoped the “time for words has now moved to the time of action.” Interestingly, prior to the event, this sentiment was mirrored when she was overheard saying, “It’s really irritating when they talk, but they don’t do”.

She was a woman of intent and she knew how to address an audience, whether that was a family in their own home watching her on their TV, or world leaders invited to Buckingham Palace for a private audience with her. Such a universally understood, liked and admired person was a huge ambassador for scientific goals and achievements. She will be missed by all those who met her, in the scientific circles and beyond.