Queen Elizabeth Launches on YouTube

[teech]

there's some interesting video's posted

Just call her Queen e-Lizabeth.

The 81-year-old British monarch launched her own video site on YouTube Sunday, featuring old news reels and film snippets of daily royal life. Buckingham Palace said Queen Elizabeth II keeps up with new ways of communicating with people and was hoping to reach a wider, and younger, audience through the popular video-sharing Web site.

The palace began posting archive and recent footage of the queen and other royals on the official Royal Channel on YouTube on Sunday, with plans to add new clips regularly.

The queen will use the site to send out her annual televised Christmas message, a tradition that she began 50 years ago.

"The queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "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."

The royal page -- which bears the scarlet lettered heading "The Royal Channel - The Official Channel of the British Monarchy" -- features a picture of Buckingham Palace flanked by the queen's Guards in their trademark tall bearskin hats and red tunics.

Palace officials said the queen's Christmas message this year will urge people to care for the vulnerable and those excluded from society. She will also pay tribute to the sacrifices made by the armed forces.

The queen chooses a different theme for each annual address, the one occasion in the year when she writes her own speech without government advice.

In a preview of this year's speech, the monarch is seen standing in Buckingham Palace, watching black and white footage of herself delivering her first televised broadcast.

Dressed in an apricot colored dress, the queen can be seen walking into the palace's opulent 1844 Room, which is filled with lights and production equipment, and preparing to start her address.

The speech remains confidential until it is aired, both on TV and radio, on Christmas Day.

YouTube, which allows anyone to upload and share video clips, was founded in 2005 and bought by Google last year.

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On the Net:

The Royal Channel: [Only registered and activated users can see links] ([Only registered and activated users can see links])

[BigJerr]

Funny as heck.

[Nanette]

As far as I am concerned the Queen and her offspring are nothing but parasites. They need to be done away with. They squander millions of dollars for what? An opulent lifestyle. If the Brits were smart they would cast them out on the street. Let them see what the normal folks live like.

I don't know what the fascination is with the royal bunch is, we fought a war to get away from such as they represent. I don't understand the fascination with them. As far as I am concerned they are nothing but leeches.

It seems to me that we are going back to the mindset of royalty. The president and his sidekicks are not questioned nor held to account, just like the royalty of old. Does it not seem that we are going back to the days of royalty in this country? It sure does to me and I don't like it a bit.

[teech]

first of all the shrub could not hold a candle to the royal family--come on--I like the tradition of the royal family--even as fucked up as they may be--they are harmless--unlike the bushes

FYI:

In the United Kingdom the Civil List is the sum that covers most expenses associated with the Sovereign performing of his or her state duties, including those for staffing, state visits, public engagements, official entertainment, and upkeep of the Royal Households.
Formerly, the monarch met all official expenses from hereditary revenues, including the profits of the Crown Estate and the Royal Mail. It was created in 1660, but during 1760 the new King, George III, agreed to surrender the hereditary revenues of the Crown in exchange for the Civil List, funded by taxation.
This Civil List was originally intended to meet all of the expenses of civil government, including the Civil Service and pensions paid by the State, as well as the expenses of the Royal Household. These had earlier been paid by the monarch from their own non-tax sources of income, as had the expenses of running the Court system. Non-civil expenses, such as the costs of the Army and Navy, and interest on the National Debt, were paid from taxation.
On the accession of William IV in 1830, Parliament removed all civil government expenses from the Civil List, leaving only the expense of the royal household.
The Crown Estate is not owned by the monarch personally, but is an inalienable possession of the Crown, and passes from one Sovereign to the next. During modern times, the profits surrendered from the Crown Estate have greatly exceeded the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid provided to the monarch. For example, surplus from the Crown Estate produced approximately £184.8 million for the Treasury during the financial year 2003/04, whereas parliamentary funding for the Monarchy was approximately £36.8 million during the same period. These funds include the Civil List, Annuities, Grants in Aid, and funding paid directly by government departments.
In 2000, a £35.3 million reserve was carried over from the 1990-2000 Civil List. The reserve was created from surpluses caused by low inflation and the efforts of the Queen and her staff to make the palace more efficient. For the period of 2000 - 2010, the Civil List has continued to be fixed at £7,900,000 (GBP) annually, the same as was established during 1990.
Only the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh receive funding from the Civil List. The Duke receives £359,000 per year. The state duties and staff of other members of the Royal Family are funded from a Parliamentary Annuity, the amount of which is repaid by the Queen from the monies put into the Privy Purse from income from the Duchy of Lancaster. The money repaid by the Queen can be claimed against her personal tax bill however, meaning she makes profit of over £500,000 annually due to this arrangement. Money from the Privy Purse also goes towards royal charities, including the Chapel Royal.
Private personal expenditure is met from private sources of income

[Xena]

The money the royal family spends is their own. Just think of them as the PR arm of the British nation. They actually do a lot of good socially speaking.