Queen rings the changes

The Queen reportedly rings racing contacts

The Queen has been given her first mobile phone, according to reports.

The Duke of York has bought his mother "a swish Siemens C35i" and taught her how to use it, The Sun newspaper says.

He has also pre-programmed the numbers of all four of her children into the phone so she can call them using speed dialling, the paper reports.

The Queen, 75, is said to have used the phone to keep in touch from Buckingham Palace, Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in the Scottish Highlands.

We do not discuss private gifts between members of the Royal Family

Buckingham Palace

She is also understood to use it to ring horse racing contacts.

"It was a bit of a novelty at first and took some time for her to master," The Sun quotes a senior courtier as saying.

"But now it is second nature for her, like it is to most people.

"These things can be used anywhere.

"If the Queen is walking on a royal estate, miles from a landline phone, she can stay in contact."

Ban

The phone is not thought to yet have a customised ring tone.

In November, the Queen banned servants at the royal palaces from carrying phones on duty.

The ban was reportedly prompted by several mobile phones ringing during a major banquet held for foreign dignitaries.

It said customised melodies, such as the Hawaii Five-O theme music and Colonel Bogey stretched the Queen's patience to breaking point, according to The Sun.

In response to reports that the Queen now owned her own mobile phone, a Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "We do not discuss private gifts between members of the Royal Family."