Queen Elizabeth died the other day with many records, including being the longest reigning British monarch. Among them is a rare one – the most fake death news in the world is about Queen Elizabeth. Although there are no precise figures for this, if we search the (fake) news of the last few years, we will be convinced.
The latest fake death report was hours before the Queen’s death was officially announced. Buckingham Palace confirmed the Queen’s death on the afternoon of September 8. A few hours before this, Yalda Hakeem, a journalist from the British media BBC, wrote on Twitter that the Queen had died. She immediately deleted the tweet, but hundreds of people on social media believed it. Condolences poured in. Moreover, Twitter accounts with fake names like the one seen in the picture also announced the news of death.
In 2015, there was a similar mistake by the BBC. Aman Khwaja, a journalist from the BBC’s Urdu department, tweeted that the Queen had died. The BBC often rehearsed how to cover the Queen’s death. In such a way, Ahman Khwaja accidentally tweeted during a ‘reporting training’ held in secret in 2015. This happened despite strict instructions from the BBC not to post anything on social media. The tweet was soon taken down, but the news spread. The BBC also apologized that day.
In February this year, the Queen was infected with Covid. The media tabloid ‘Hollywood Unlocked’ posted on their Instagram account on February 23: “We are informed by sources close to the royal family that Queen Elizabeth has died.” Within seconds, the news was shared by millions of people around the world.
Although many called the news fake, Jason Lee, founder of Hollywood Unlocked, tweeted, “We don’t post lies. I trust my news source. Waiting for the official notification from the palace,” was the first response. Needless to say, however, Lee’s overconfidence was soon shattered!
The satirical website ‘The Daily World Update’ was behind the news about the Queen’s death in 2018. The news they gave was as follows: “Queen Elizabeth has died. Their last words were ‘Don’t trust Donald Trump’ People and media in many parts of the world believed this ‘news’ without realizing it was satire!
Only a few examples have been added above. The Queen’s death has been announced many times by social media, websites and individuals. Some were accidental, some were misreported by news sources, and some were intended to mislead readers.
Even after death
Misinformation about the queen was not just about her death. Let’s talk about two videos that were widely distributed on WhatsApp after their death. A video is shared with the caption of Queen Elizabeth throwing food and money to African children. (Scan the QR code to see it.) The video shows two women in royal costumes throwing something at children. Queen Elizabeth is not actually in the video.
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The video was shot in Vietnam in 1899. In the video is Blanc, the wife of Paul Domer, who later became president of France, and their daughter. Vietnam was then a French colony.
Another video is circulating of students chanting Sanskrit hymns at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral service. We know that Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is not over yet. So the video? It features school children reciting the Shloka during the opening ceremony of the Queen’s Baton Relay held at Buckingham Palace in London on 29 October 2009 ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. In short, false information continues to circulate even after the person’s death!
English Summary: Queen Elizabeth, BBC
