The Queen Signed Her First Instagram Post "Elizabeth R" — What Does the "R" Stand for?

Isabel Jones
Updated

It’s 2019 — you can’t unlock your phone without reading about Jordyn Woods; shipping Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper is the internet’s favorite pastime; and Queen Elizabeth is a casual ‘grammer.

The Queen, 92, wrote her very first Instagram post on Thursday via The Royal Family account. Now a veritable tech wiz, the reigning monarch posted a photo of an 1843 letter she found in the Royal Archives at the Science Museum. In it, Charles Babbage (“credited as the world’s first computer pioneer”) wrote to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert (Queen E’s great-great-grandfather) to tell them of his invention: the “Analytical Engine” (which is pretty much an early, early computer prototype).

The Queen spent her day learning about children’s coding initiatives and thought the idea of posting about an early computer model from a contemporary computer was meta af (my words, not hers). “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,” she wrote, signing off, “Elizabeth R.”

View this post on Instagram

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. PHOTOS: Supplied by the Royal Archives © Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

A post shared by The Royal Family (@theroyalfamily) on Mar 7, 2019 at 3:31am PST

And while the post itself stirred a whirlwind of questions (Queen E: Instagram Great-Grandma?), we were most transfixed by her send-off: Elizabeth R. What does the “R” stand for? Royal? Regal? Renegade? Really cool lady?

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Well, after some careful Googling, we found our answer. The Queen’s full name is Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor, so the “R” doesn’t have anything to do with her moniker at birth. Rather, “R” denotes her title — it stands for “Regina” which is “Queen” in Latin. Similarly, “King” in Latin is “Rex,” so when Prince Charles ascends the throne he will use the same initial, i.e. Charles R.

We liked Elizabeth Really cool lady better, but what are you gonna do?