Queen Launches First Royal Web Site
The pooches made it onto the web. The duchess didn’t.
Queen Elizabeth II launched the first official royal web site on Thursday, with 150 pages of history, information and trivia for cyberloyalists to scroll through.
“This is the official web site of the monarchy in Britain,” greets the home page, beneath a glittering color picture of the Imperial State Crown, worn by the queen at state openings of Parliament. “We hope you find your visit informative and enjoyable.”
The queen, who sees the Internet as promoting one of her most favored goals - communications among nations - launched the site at a high school in north London by sending an e-mail to some of her subjects in a school in the tiny town of Nakina, in central Ontario.
Visitors to the British monarchy’s web site - the royal crest tops each page - can delve into the details of heir to the throne Prince Charles’ favorite charity, his Prince’s Trust, which encourages start-up ventures - or they can get the lowdown on the royal corgis (Phoenix, Pharos, Kelpe and Swift).
Other royal trivia: Prince Philip drives a Range Rover, but “for short journeys around London, uses a Metrocab,” one of London’s taxis.
Some royals get their own links, including Princess Diana. Those hungry for divorce details, however, will be disappointed by the lone and lonely reference, in Charles’ link: “The marriage of the Prince and Princess of Wales was dissolved in August 1996.”
The former Sarah Ferguson, who divorced the queen’s second son, Andrew, last year fares worse: she doesn’t even merit a link.