Chris Jackson/Getty Images Come one, come all—please!
Prince Andrew has opened a Twitter account, @TheDukeOfYork, making him the first member of Great Britain's royal family to utilize the social-networking site.
"Welcome to my Twitter account - AY," read his inaugural tweet, the initialed sign-off indicating that he wrote it himself.
Andrew's profile notes, "Tweets from HRH are signed - AY."
Sure enough, befitting his royally packed schedule, the ensuing four tweets that went up today (with twitpics!) were apparently added by his staff because they lacked the signature.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie's 53-year-old dad currently has 19,223 followers after being active for less than 24 hours, and he himself is following 51 mainly U.K.-centric accounts, including Clarence House and The British Monarchy.
Meanwhile, Andrew's older brother, Prince Charles, is gearing up to welcome his first grandchild any day now, so we'll be on the lookout for any unlikely spillage of the royal beans.
And, memo to expectant parents Kate Middleton and Prince William (not to mention any and all members of the royal family): Consider yourselves more than welcome on Twitter any time!