LONDON – The Queen has set up her own special Royal Channel on YouTube — and her Christmas Day message will be posted on the popular video-sharing website for the first time.
The site features both archive and recent footage of the Queen and other royals, and Buckingham Palace plans to add new clips regularly.
The new royal link went live just after midnight Saturday/Sunday as the 81-year-old sovereign, Britain's oldest living monarch, embraced the advance in modern technology.
Click here to view report on Queen's Web message at Sky News.com
The groundbreaking move coincides with the 50th anniversary of the monarch's first televised December 25 speech, which she delivered live to the nation in 1957.
The royal page bears the heading in scarlet letters The Royal Channel — The Official Channel Of The British Monarchy.
It is illustrated with a photo of Buckingham Palace flanked by guardsmen wearing their tall bearskin hats and red tunics.
The modern video clips include shots of garden parties, state visits, the Queen and various prime ministers, investitures and a day in the life of the Prince of Wales.
A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "The Queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people.
"The Christmas Message was podcast last year. The Royal Channel features the 1957 broadcast where she talks about using a new medium of communication.
"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."
YouTube, which allows anyone to upload and share video clips, was founded in 2005.
It became an internet phenomenon and has even made stars of members of the public who have posted their own footage on the site.
It was bought by Google last year for £880m, or approximately $1.75 billion.
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