- After the Queen died, numerous conspiracy theories began spreading online.
- QAnon influencers spread multiple baseless theories on Telegram.
Almost immediately after Queen Elizabeth II's death on September 8, far-right influencers and other internet users began spinning conspiracy theories about the late monarch. Although the death of any famous person tends to inspire a raft of hoaxes and falsehoods, the magnitude of the Queen's death launched even more bizarre theories than usual.
A myriad of blatantly false claims and baseless theories have gained traction, including everything from a doctored image of Meghan Markle wearing a shirt saying "The Queen Is Dead" to QAnon influencers saying Donald Trump knew the Queen was going to die and gave his followers a coded warning before it happened.
The QAnon community exploded with baseless conspiracy theories
There have been a number of baseless claims circulating among adherents of QAnon, the far-right movement centered around the false claim that there's a deep-state cabal of human traffickers that only former President Donald Trump can stop. A QAnon influencer wrote a post trying to decode one of Trump's all-caps Truth Social messages, posted in early September, and said the post time somehow signaled that there would be a "big week ahead." At least one popular QAnon influencer with over 40,000 followers reshared the post.
A QAnon influencer with over 230,000 Telegram followers also wrote a post appearing to link QAnon to the Queen's death, saying it was "very interesting" that she died "1776 days" after the first Q drop. (They did not elaborate on what that purported to mean.) Another QAnon influencer with over 40,000 followers posted a picture of a "Days Between Two Dates" calculator and wrote the same message, adding fireworks emotes.
Meanwhile, a post on the far-right, QAnon-themed Great Awakening forum racked up hundreds of likes that also appeared to suggest there was something nefarious or strange with the Queen's death.
A fake Telegram account for former national security adviser turned MAGA celebrity Mike Flynn, which has over 29,000 followers, shared a post from a QAnon Telegram page that baselessly claimed Princess Diana — who died in 1997 — is "coming out of the shadows" to be the new queen.
Other QAnon influencers spread the false claim that Queen Elizabeth II already died years ago. One influencer with over 18,000 followers shared a post using "symbology" to baselessly say the Queen died before and "they have now decided to make it public."
Other baseless conspiracy theories involve vaccines, target Meghan Markle
Another conspiracy theory that found a foothold on social media were baseless claims and speculation that the COVID-19 vaccine killed the Queen. Multiple fact-checking organizations debunked the claim.
There were also multiple popular conspiracy theories or false claims involving Meghan Markle, a frequent target among royalists who have long presented her as a villain who is trying to tear apart the British royal family.
An image circulated on Twitter showing Markle wearing a shirt with the cover of The Smiths' "The Queen Is Dead," with the caption criticizing Markle for doing that after the Queen's death. But the image was reverse-searched and proven to be manipulated — in the actual photo, Markle wears a white shirt with a gray-white coat, according to AFP's Fact-Check.
Numerous others baselessly claimed that Markle wore a microphone to the Queen's memorial service at Windsor Castle, citing no other evidence than what appeared to be wrinkles in her dress.
The death of public figures is often a prompt for conspiracy theories and far-right movements who attempt to capitalize on a major event and spin it to reflect their own reality. Recent deaths such as that of actress Anne Heche have almost immediately become integrated into conspiracy theorists' lore. As one of the world's most recognizable people, the Queen appears to have given an especially rich trove of material for conspiracists to promote their beliefs.