It began life as an internet idea open to his fellow students but its appeal quickly spread to other universities and later world wide.

The royal page will also feature the Court Circular - the authoritative record of the previous day's official Royal engagements.

The practice of the Court circulating a report of the sovereign's official daily engagements to the newspapers was reportedly begun by George III in 1803.

The Queen is perhaps Britain's most famous internet user. She has embraced technology and is said to email her grandchildren.

But Philip is thought to be the real fan of computers and the internet, using them regularly.

The launch of the Facebook page shows how the British Monarchy is keen to take advantage of new developments.

The move follows the introduction of the Monarchy's Flickr account earlier this year, it also joined Twitter in 2009 and established a Royal Channel on YouTube in 2007.

Prince William has already been officially featured on social networking sites.

Updates about his tour of New Zealand in January were posted on to Facebook and Bebo by the New Zealand government.

The Royal Family is not expected to find themselves with thousands of new "friends" on the site as a new page and not a personal profile has been created.

So fans wishing to follow the Monarchy can instead indicate they "like" the entry and will receive updates about new pictures and videos through their news feed.

The page will also feature information about Royal events and ceremonies, searchable on a UK map, and its creation is a collaboration between Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and the Royal Collection.