The Queen Had a Glitch on Zoom—And She Handled It Perfectly

Queen Elizabeth II is just like us—well, at least when it comes to dealing with technology issues during virtual meetings. 

That’s right: Even queens can’t escape internet connection problems. Recently, Her Majesty held an online meeting with KPMG, a huge accounting firm in the U.K. that was celebrating its 150th anniversary. Hence a meeting with the queen. 

“The Queen heard personal stories from @KPMGUK employees based in London, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Glasgow. John McCalla-Leacy – KPMG’s first black Board member – spoke to The Queen about the life-changing support he received as a young man from the @PrincesTrust,” the official royal family Twitter account explained. “The Queen was interested to hear about @KPMGUK’s continued work to promote diversity and inclusion in accountancy, and congratulated the firm on its 150th milestone.”

During the meeting, Queen Elizabeth said, “Thank goodness for technology, so one can still do this.” But then, technology let her down. While McCalla-Leacy was speaking, something went wrong with the wireless. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I lost you,” he said. “I wasn’t sure, actually, if you could hear me.”

“You just disappeared, all of you,” the queen replied, but she was totally unfazed. McCall-Leacy then laughed and asked where she might’ve lost her connection. Naturally, the 94-year old didn’t miss a beat and told him it was when he was talking about the effects of the pandemic. 

You can watch the whole interaction below, starting around the 3:50 mark. 

It sure looks like all those Zoom calls with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren during the year have really paid off. To be a fly on the wall for one of those chats! Prince Louis is probably still being a little rascal and ending calls before he’s supposed to. Maybe Archie has even gotten in on the action from California, too. Regardless, we’re happy this family is staying connected.