Queen Elizabeth’s Special Cell Phone and Why She Hated How They Changed Walkabouts
Queen Elizabeth II’s calling. The late monarch had — and used — her own cell phone. Who the queen called the most, what about cell phones she didn’t quite get, and whose calls she always answered.
Queen Elizabeth had a ‘hack’-proof cell phone
The queen’s cell phone went way beyond average. After all, this was the queen of the United Kingdom. It wasn’t gold or diamond-encrusted to rival the crown jewels. Rather, it came equipped with some serious tech.
The queen’s phone was “among the most advanced in the world,” per royal author Brian Hoey, (via Express). Queen Elizabeth “apparently has a mobile phone which is said to be a Samsung packed with anti-hacker encryption by MI6 so nobody can hack into her phone,” Jonathan Sacerdoti, a royal expert and author, said on Royally Obsessed before the monarch died in September 2022.
In Gyles Brandreth’s book, Elizabeth: An Intimate Portrait,” the author shared that her “obliging” grandchildren were tutors, saying they were “ready to show her how it worked,” (via Daily Mail).
And while certain parts of using a phone clicked, others didn’t. “She understood ‘texting,’ though was rather defeated by ‘apps,’ Brandreth wrote. “And she did not allow her grandchildren to bring their ‘devices’ to the dining table, under any circumstances.”
As for charging the phone, the task supposedly fell to the queen’s assistant.
The queen’s frequent call list included her racing manager and Princess Anne
“Apparently, the queen has two people who she speaks to the most on her phones,” Sacerdoti continued. “The two people she phones the most are said to be her daughter, Princess Anne, and her racing manager, John Warren.”
The queen, known in life for her love of horses — and dogs — picked up Warren’s calls. “If he calls, she answers,” Sacerdoti said. “He is the son-in-law of the queen’s friend, the late Earl of Carnarvon. And his home was Highclere Castle in Berkshire, which viewers of TV may know better as Downton Abbey.”
Per the Mirror, Warren’s “considered one of the world’s leading horsemen” who oversaw “all of the queen’s racing and breeding interests.”
Queen Elizabeth didn’t like how cell phones changed her experience of greeting the public
Although Queen Elizabeth used her cell phone, she wasn’t a fan of how technology impacted her walkabouts, also known as when royals greet crowds. According to author Ian Lloyd, the queen, who began greeting members of the public on walkabouts in the 1970s, felt phones made the experience less personal.
In the digital era, she missed that eye contact, with mobile phones thwarting that genuine connection,” Lloyd said. The author continued, saying instead of faces, the queen saw cameras.
“People would just hold up their camera phones or, even worse, their iPads, so she would be faced with a wall of screens,” he explained. “They just want to record the moment rather than experience it, which is a shame.”
After the queen died, members of the royal family have engaged in more selfie-taking on walkabouts. Believed to be frowned upon during the queen’s reign, Prince William and Kate Middleton are among those who have posed for photos.
