Selfie craze leaves Queen out of the picture

Selfies may be all the rage, but the narcissistic social media craze has reportedly not found favour at Buckingham Palace.

The Queen has is said to have voiced her dismay that when she carries out engagements she is greeted by a sea of mobile phones.

The monarch, who famously “photobombed” a selfie taken by an Australian sportswoman at the Commonwealth Games, made the comments to US ambassador Matthew Barzun when he presented his credentials at Buckingham Palace in November.

In an interview for the October edition of Tatler magazine, the 43-year-old American claimed that she made the remarks during a “nice chat” they had after the ceremony.

He told the magazine: “She was essentially saying ‘I miss eye contact’.”

The Queen is often greeted on official engagements by a sea of well-wishers straining to take pictures of her, both traditional and selfies.

She hit the headlines when she appeared in a photograph by Australian hockey player Jayde Taylor, smiling in the background over her shoulder as she posed with a teammate during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July.

She also became an unexpected subject for a selfie when an enthusiastic boy managed to grab a photo with the Queen in the background as she was on a tour of St George’s Market in Belfast during a visit to Northern Ireland in June.

The Queen was also notably deluged with staff taking camera-phone pictures when she visited New Broadcasting House to officially open the BBC’s headquarters in June last year.

Mr Barzun was a key figure in securing US President Barack Obama’s two electoral victories. In between the campaigns, the business executive, a Harvard history and literature graduate, served as US ambassador to Sweden.