The 84-year-old British monarch will be featured in videos, photos and news items on the site, which will be available from Monday, alongside other members of the country's royal family, including Princes William and Harry. Users will be able to leave messages or comments for Buckingham Palace on the site and find details of royal events close to their homes.

However, because the pages will be corporate - and not a personal account - people won't be able to request to become friends with the queen. A royal official said the queen had personally approved the plan, but acknowledged she has not actually used the site herself.

"The decision went right up to the queen," said the official. "If you are going to have an online presence in 2010, you just have to be on Facebook." The Facebook page is the queen's latest social media venture _ the royal family already have an account on the Flickr photography website, joined Twitter in 2009 and set up a video channel on YouTube in 2007.