Royal Family

Did King Charles III sign a proclamation that former President Donald Trump actually won the 2020 presidential election in the U.S.? No, that's not true: The claim uses a screenshot of Charles signing documents related to his accession to the throne. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) posted on September 10, 2022. The tweet included a picture of…

Did the television show "The Simpsons" predict Queen Elizabeth II's death in 2022? No, that's not true: An image showing the queen in a coffin with the dates 1926-2022 is not a real still from "The Simpsons." The queen's death does not appear in any episodes of this series. Lead Stories previously debunked a claim that used a similar image…

Did the late Queen Elizabeth II say she wished Jesus Christ would return in her lifetime so she could "lay her crown at His feet?" No, that's not true: Queen Elizabeth II did not make those comments. They were first published in a book in 1902 and were attributed to Queen Victoria by a former dean of Canterbury, a senior…

Did a video posted to Facebook in September 2022 show the body of the late Queen Elizabeth II being placed into a coffin? No, that's not true: The video in question was originally posted to social media more than three weeks prior to the queen's September 8, 2022, death. While the post does not make the claim outright, its timing…

Did Queen Elizabeth II make it known that she does not wish any of her dogs to go on living in the event of her death? No, that's not true: Suggestions that the queen wanted all surviving dogs euthanized at the time of her death are satirical. A 2015 article on vanityfair.com included anecdotes from horse trainer Monty Roberts about…

Was a debt jubilee, the cancellation of a broad range of debts from the public record, "officially declared" after Queen Elizabeth II's death? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, no such announcement has been made. The man who posted the rumor online was promoting his online store selling precious metals. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Did Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, wear a The Smiths T-shirt with the phrase "The Queen Is Dead" on it to mock the September 8, 2022 death of Queen Elizabeth II? No, that's not true: This is an altered photo. An example of the original photo can be found in a People magazine article. Johnny Marr, the guitarist in…

Did the BBC change its home page color from red to black before the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II? No, that's not true: Archived copies of the BBC.com banner show it was black before the Crown's September 8, 2022, announcement about the queen being under medical supervision and was still black when her death was announced hours…

Has Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor -- the daughter of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex -- died? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Lilibet has died at the time of writing and a video making the claim doesn't attempt to provide any such evidence. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on July 6, 2022. The post…

Does this video prove that 30 British aircraft intercepted Russia's Black Sea fleet? No, that's not true: The video shows a compilation of file photos, some not even of British aircraft, with subtitles. At least one shows an obsolete aircraft. Some of the subtitles do not make sense in terms of a military operation such as: "an early warning aircraft…