Update 1:21pm CT: The Royal Family announced this afternoon that Queen Elizabeth II passed.
The original article appears below.
Overnight, Buckingham Palace released news that Queen Elizabeth II is so ill doctors recommend she remain under constant medical supervision. Much of her royal family is reportedly by her bedside and others are traveling to be with her.
News of the 96-year-old monarch’s poor health inspired well-wishes from around the world.
Conspiracy theorists are also following the story with great interest. Most aren’t particularly concerned about the queen’s well-being, however. They’re floating a number of theories about what’s “really” going on and coming up with truly wild speculations.
Among the more popular theories is that the queen is already dead and has been so for years.
“Please let her ‘officially’ die,” one person wrote in the We the Pepe Telegram channel.
QAnon followers hypothesized that the fictitious cabal they believe controls the world is coordinating news of her death to distract people from a power grab, seize control of the banking system, and various other nefarious actions.
“This would be a week long diversion of the news cycle,” said one.
A QAnon conspiracist on Gab hypothesized that the queen ran out of adrenochrome, the chemical they believe the cabal harvests from children’s brains.
Many suggested that the date the palace releases news of her death will hold some significance.
“What if it’s today? 9+8=17,” wrote one. QAnon followers obsess about the number 17 because ‘Q’ is the 17th letter in the alphabet.
“What is the relevance of the date 9/9 I wonder? Any guidance really appreciated as we know everything is symbolic,” a subscriber to QAnon influencer Juan Q Savin’s channel wondered, prompting another to reply, “It’ll turn out to be 666 if the 🦎 is announced dead tomorrow.”
The lizard emoji in the conspiracy theorist’s response is a nod to one of the strangest, yet most pervasive theories of all: that Queen Elizabeth is actually a reptilian humanoid.
@science_daily_tiktok use this #viralsound if you are a #shapeshifter #conspirancytheory #lizardqueen #reptilians #fyp #tiktok ♬ original sound – Science Conspiracies Daily
The equally bizarre and baseless rumor that Queen Elizabeth is actually part lizard is currently making the rounds on multiple platforms.
“The Queen RIP. Off to the great Lizard Terrarium in the sky,” tweeted @beeforcow.
Even as many excitedly pointed to posts about the queen by the supposed government insider who gave rise to the conspiracy theory, others seemed fatigued by it all.
Several grumbled that “news” of Queen Elizabeth’s death has been circulating for a long time, perhaps most memorably when an entertainment website falsely reported that she died earlier this year.
“I feel like we’ve read this story about a half dozen times in the last two years,” a subscriber called Bob wrote in a QAnon Telegram channel.
