Queen Elizabeth II sends her first tweet

Queen Elizabeth II has sent out her very first tweet -- and she's signed it "Elizabeth R."

The 88-year-old British monarch tried her hand at Twitter as she opened a new gallery in central London's Science Museum Friday.

The queen removed a glove to type on a touchscreen tablet, writing "I hope people will enjoy visiting" the exhibition. She sent it through the British monarchy's official Twitter account (which has 760,000 followers), as some 600 guests looked on.

"Elizabeth R" is how the queen signs official documents. The "R'' stands for "regina," the Latin for queen.

A few hours later, the message had already been retweeted more than 15,000 times.

Most members of the royal family do not tweet personally -- they are represented by official accounts managed by spokespeople. In May, Prince Harry sent his own first tweet, in support of the Invictus Games.

The gallery, called "Information Age," explores the technological breakthroughs that have changed communication.

The queen was the first monarch to send an email, in 1976 when the technology was in its infancy.