A royal expert has revealed the reason why the Royals still use corded landline telephones.
While old-fashioned telephones went out of style and replaced by more convenient smartphones, people are surprised to discover that the royals in Kensington Palace are still using them for communications.
In March 2020, the Queen moved to Windsor Castle to isolate. She has then been photographed conducting her weekly meetings with Prime Minister Boris Johnson using an old-fashioned dial phone.
Meanwhile, the Cambridges updated their new YouTube channel with a video of her speaking to participants in her photography contest for Hold Still.
Kate was photographed holding a black corded landline phone to her ear as she casually talked to finalists beside a window in Kensington Palace. While she was previously seen with an iPhone, she and Prince William, tend to use the corded telephone when it comes to conducting engagements.
During the first coronavirus lockdown last year, the Duke of Cambridge was pictured using a landline phone to talk to Mind Charity’s CEO Paul Farmer about the importance of mental health from a desk in the Palace.
The Duchess of Cornwall Camilla was also seen several times throughout the pandemic keeping in touch with people via a corded landline phone.
According to royal expert Phil Dampier, The Queen has likely used the same old telephone for years and has an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mentality.
“The Queen doesn’t believe in change for change’s sake and if she is comfortable with something she keeps using it for years,” Dampier told MailOnline.
Her Majesty’s former press spokesman, Dickie Arbiter added that Queen Elizabeth is ‘very frugal’ and sees no point in changing something if it’s working.
“It fits the ambiance if you’re living in a medieval castle, why put something modern in? The white phone fits,” Arbiter told MailOnline. “It’s a rather old-fashioned Bakelite telephone, and as far as she’s concerned, it works, why change it?”
“You’d be very surprised at how many people actually have corded telephones – how many people have old-fashioned homes – because they want old-fashioned phones because it looks good, it looks better than anything modern,” he added. “I think at the end of the day it’s about choice.”
Arbiter added that while we haven’t seen Prince Charles on a telephone for a long time, he does still use the corded handset.
“We’ve seen [Charles] going the video route – but everyone’s been Zooming and Skyping because that’s the way people have been communicating during the lockdown,” Arbiter explained. “It’s not to say that he doesn’t use a corded telephone, he does use a corded telephone, but we’ve only seen him Zooming because that’s what’s been required, the same way we’ve seen the Queen Zooming very recently.”
“The conference call on the telephone is, I suppose, a thing of the past really,” he explained. “We’re now doing video calls.”
“When you can’t come face-to-face with somebody, and the Queen does like coming face-to-face because she thrives on meeting people and chatting to people, the alternative is Zoom, Google meeting, Microsoft Teams, Skype, take your pick – at least you can have a meaningful conversation with somebody you can actually see,” Arbiter added.
Arbiter also explained that using a landline is very safe.
“A landline is not so accessible because you need to put a wiretap on it, so that’s not so easy,” he said.
Phil, the author of Prince Philip: A Lifetime of Wit and Wisdom, also said that the royals spend a lot of time clutching the phone and want to be ‘relaxed’.
“Prince William and Kate might use corded phones in photos to appear more in tune with the general public, particularly older people who still use them,” Phil said. “And there might also be a security element if landlines are considered safer and not web-enabled.”
Phil added that the Royal family may even opt to use corded telephones for health reasons.
“Some research has shown cordless phones might pose a health risk if used extensively,” he explained. “I certainly get a headache if I use one so I too prefer old-fashioned ones.”