The Queen's Own YouTube Page

• by John Lister on 20071228 @ 09:55PM EST | google it | send to friends
• Filed under Humor | (related terms: youtube, queen, broadcast, christmas message, royal)

The Queen has opened her own channel on YouTube. The British monarch will use the site to broadcast her annual Christmas Day message, which celebrates its 50th anniversary on television this year.

Last year's message was, for the first time, available as a podcast. A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said, "The Queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people. She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit. This will make the Christmas message more accessible to younger people and those in other countries."

Ironically, this year's speech will include footage of the 1957 address in which the Queen spoke of television as a new means by which she could communicate. "That it is possible for some of you to see me today is just another example of the speed at which things are changing all around us," she said then.

The YouTube channel includes rare footage, such as the 1923 wedding of the Queen's parents, an unseen documentary about the royal family from the 1950s, and the full 1957 broadcast. (Source: iht.com)

It appears royal advisors are aware of the 'interactive nature' of sites like YouTube. They've opted to disable comments on the various videos, clearing the possibility of anti-monarchy 'flaming' on the channel's page.

The page for the 1957 broadcast currently links to videos including last year's speech backed by a Coolio song, and an alternative Christmas message by peace activist Brian Haw. (Source: youtube.com)

It's a skilled move by royal publicists; as well as being a genuinely useful way of expanding the Christmas Day broadcast's potential audience, the tie in with a fashionable Internet brand makes for great publicity.

Free guide: Windows 8 Cheat Sheet: Keyboard Shortcuts. Microsoft Windows has always had some fantastic time-saving keyboard shortcuts designed to make our lives easier. For example: CTRL-X will cut text or objects, and CTRL-V will paste them. (Of course, you can use your mouse to achieve the same thing, but it requires clicking and fumbling through menus, which can be a huge time waster if you cut and paste 50+ times a day). With Windows 8, Microsoft has added many new keyboard shortcuts to their operating system; unfortunately, it's a bit of a learning curve. That's where the Windows 8 keyboard shortcuts cheat sheet comes in! Simply download the guide and reference it when you need to. You'll save a ton of time using your keyboard, rather than reaching for the mouse and flipping through oodles of menus trying to find what you're looking for. Share and enjoy! Click here to download this guide now! Note: this guide is free, but registration is required; after that, you can select more ebooks and videos for download without registering again. If you have questions / problems with the registration form, please read this.