Royal Family

Was Edward Mordake a man born with a second face on the back of his head that could laugh, cry and whisper horrible things to him? No, that's not true: The legend of Edward Mordake, sometimes called Mordrake, appears to have begun as a work of fiction by writer Charles Lotin Hildreth in 1895. The account of Mordake's life tortured…

Did Romana Didulo become commander in chief of Canada? No, that's not true: according to a spokesperson from the Canadian government, the head of state of Canada is still Queen Elizabeth II and the head of government is Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Didulo is simply the leader of Canada1st, a group that is not "part of or beholden to the…

Did Queen Elizabeth laugh at Prince Philip pranking her dressed as a palace guard? No, that's not true: Queen Elizabeth II was photographed in 2003 laughing while standing next to her husband but he did not trick her by dressing up as one of the household guards, causing her to crack up. He was officially escorting her wearing his full…

Was Oprah Winfrey wearing an ankle monitor during her interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry? No, that's not true. Video shows the billionaire TV mogul was wearing a pair of boots on which creases and folds naturally moved as she changed position during her March 7, 2021, interview with the royal couple that aired on CBS. Nicole Nichols, spokesperson…

Abbie Richards, a climate science student in the Netherlands, was looking with bewilderment at the state of her home country of the United States. So many conspiracy theories echoing, particularly ahead of the election. Struggling to wrangle all of them for a paper, she made a chart naming some 100 conspiracies dominating the social media world to, she hoped, make…

Did Canada on Sept. 8, 2020, criminalize government measures that require the wearing of masks, as well as social distancing, vaccinations, and other protective measures that help thwart the spread of COVID-19? No, that is not true. The national government has made no such declaration. The claim refers to a made-up "Republic of Kanata" that claims to trump the powers…

Did the media fail to report the deaths of 11 Marines in Afghanistan this week? No, that's not true: The deaths referred to all occurred in 2010. Only two were Marines. News media reported on each of the deaths at the time. They did all happen in a single week: July 13-18, 2010. The story reappeared in a post (archived…

Has Donald Trump rounded up, imprisoned and executed former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and scores of other notable people without anyone noticing or sounding the alarm? No, that's not true: Each person on the arrest and execution list has been recently seen in public and the conspiracy claim that those appearances are explained by body…

Is a meme listing 22 points, including conspiracy claims about 5G hazards, adrenochrome, Jeffrey Epstein, Pizzagate, and Britain's Royal Family factual? Mostly no, although some points are true and others are just predictions that cannot be fact checked. An example of the massive meme is found in a post (archived here) shared on Facebook June 4, 2020. It opened:…

Did President Trump pose with four Ku Klux Klan members in front of a burning cross, as depicted in many social media posts? No, that's not true. It is a faked photo that dates to at least the week before Trump's 2016 election to the White House. Reverse image searches and reporting revealed the photo was created by an artist…