Advertisement

Royal video calls gone wrong: the Queen, Kate Middleton and more

When the royal family work from home we get to have a nosey at their desks and home office décor – but as well as that, it turns out they suffer awkward issues just like the rest of us.

MORE: 21 mind-blowing royal homes revealed: Prince William, Kate Middleton, Princess Beatrice, more

We've rounded up the most awkward and hilarious moments of the royal family struggling with video calls, including the Queen's technical troubles and Prince Edward's surprising video backdrops.

Prince Edward

Prince Edward ventured into the wonderful world of virtual backdrops – experimenting with this background for an important video call. While the Earl was speaking to organisations in Greater Manchester, he appeared on screen with backdrops of the city behind him, which changed as he spoke through his points.

Prince Edward has experimented with video backdrops

The jazzy techniques weren't appreciated by all and many fans on Twitter claimed the green screen effects distorted the appearance of the Earl. One wrote: "This is really great! Glad he's drawing awareness for these services. He needs to stop with virtual backgrounds though. It makes people look somewhat distorted."

The Queen

The Queen, 96, has taken surprisingly well to virtual appearances but in December 2020 technology failed her in the middle of an important call.

WATCH: The Queen's link fails on a video call - and she handles it like a pro

Her Majesty was speaking to KPMG employees and partners to mark the accountancy firm's 150th anniversary when the line to Windsor Castle briefly went down. Her image vanished from the gallery of faces for a moment but when she returned, she said with a smile, "You just disappeared, all of you."'

the-queen-kpmg-1
the-queen-kpmg-1

The Queen smoothed over the mishap 

Ever the professional, she carried on regardless and actually went on to praise technology despite the hiccup!

SEE: Inside the royal family's bedrooms as you've never seen them before

MORE: The truth about the Queen's life at Balmoral

Prince Philip

prince-philip-video-call
prince-philip-video-call

Prince Philip had an unconventional way of ending calls

The Duke of Edinburgh, who passed away aged 99, still managed to use technology in the final year of his life to stay in touch with family. Speaking to James Corden on The Late Late Show, Prince Harry was asked about family video calls. Laughing, he explained: "My grandfather, instead of pressing leave meeting, he just goes [closes laptop]. "It's like 'bye' and as I'm pressing end to leave. It's like, 'okay, bye'."

MORE: Prince William unveils his stunning home office view – and we're jealous

Prince William and Kate Middleton

While the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have not suffered a public mishap on their video calls, it sounds like there must have been some near misses.

kate-middleton-prince-william-video-call
kate-middleton-prince-william-video-call

The Cambridges struggle with video calls too

During an interview with the BBC, they opened up about video calls with young children in the house. Kate said: "It gets a bit hectic, I am not going to lie, with a two-year-old."

LOOK: Royal playhouses that will amaze you: Prince Harry, Prince William, more

William continued to explain Prince Louis' cheeky actions: "For some reason he sees the red button and he always wants to press the red button." That's one way of getting off a boring call, eh?

Make sure you never miss a ROYAL story! Sign up to our newsletter to get all of our celebrity, royal and lifestyle news delivered directly to your inbox.