Duke finds sea of mobile phones ‘disconcerting’

In an interview with BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat, Andrew described the experience as the “new reality”.

The Queen has also reportedly said she finds it strange to be greeted by a sea of mobile phones. US ambassador Matthew Barzun told Tatler magazine in October that the monarch essentially told him she missed eyed contact.

Asked whether he minded people trying to take selfies with him, he said: “I’m not so fussed about the selfie problem. What is interesting though now is that one finds that if you’re walking along a crowd of people, you’re faced with an iPad, not a face, or an iPhone, who are filming you.

“They follow you around. It’s disconcerting, not rude or anything, it’s just disconcerting ... that this is the new reality.”

He was speaking to promote iDEA - a digital enterprise award to help thousands of young people turn their ideas into businesses. Working with Nominet Trust, Andrew teamed up with singer will.i.am to start the initiative in March. About 1,000 young people have taken part in the pilot and it has launched nationwide for 14 to 25-years-olds.