Queen displeased with constant sea of mobile phones: 'I miss eye contact'

One prefers more traditional greetings

Should you encounter the Queen any time soon, put your phone anyway and make sure you look at her straight in the eye.

Her Majesty finds it “strange” to be constantly greeted with a sea of phones, much preferring more traditional receptions.

She told US ambassador Matthew Barzun of her apparent unease at today’s constant barrage of mobile phone picture-taking during a “nice chat” that they had at Buckingham Palace last year.

“She was essentially saying: 'I miss eye contact,’” Mr Barzun told Tatler magazine.

The Queen inadvertently photobombed the picture of two Australian Commonwealth Games hockey players in July. Anna Flanagan and Jayde Taylor took a selfie only to find the queen smiling merrily in the background.

The Queen has allegedly owned a mobile phone since 2001 when the Duke of York bought her one as a present. Like all kindly relatives teaching elderly family members the way of modern technology, he showed her how to use it and saved the numbers of fellow royals. Apparently, Prince William and Harry taught her how to send text messages.

The rest of the royal family are also somewhat keen on photobombing – Prince Harry jumped in the background of Trevor Shailer’s Facebook profile shot in July, while William made a surprise appearance on one of Chris Hoy’s pictures.