The 84-year-old King of Norway told of his technological ineptitude during a speech at the annual Parliament dinner held at the Royal Palace in Oslo on Thursday. Opening up about the importance of communication, the Norwegian King explained it took him 40 years to finally receive a phone.

       He said: “Many of us have probably needed up to several good wishes during the time we have left behind us.

       “And if there is one thing we have really learned since March last year, it is the importance of modern technology to be able to get in touch with each other.

       “Great was therefore the joy in my family when I got a mobile phone.”

       He added: “It only took me 40 years.”

       However, his wife Queen Sonja has kept up with emerging technology as she has been spotted wearing an Apple Watch.

       King Harald V of Norway ascended to the throne in 1993 and was the only son of King Olav V and Princess M？rtha of Sweden.

       His father Olav V of Norway was King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991.

       King Harald married Sonja Haraldsen in 1968 and has two children, M？rtha Louise and Haakon.

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       The king is also the second cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.

       By contrast to King Harald, the British monarch has worked well with technology over recent years and has often been spotted completing royal duties on video call.

       Chief executive of the Carers Trust Gareth Howells, was on a virtual meeting with the Queen to thank unpaid caregivers in 2020.

       He told PEOPLE that the Queen was “perfectly comfortable with the camera in front of her.”

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       “A couple more times and she'll be a dab hand at it!” he added.

       The Queen is currently conducting light duties after being advised to rest for two weeks, she is using technology in the form of video calls to work.

       On Thursday the Queen presented David Constantine with The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry.