On January 5th, a rumor went around that Queen Elizabeth was dead. The news originated on Reddit when a user created a theory that the Queen would die on January 5th. #RIPQueenElizabeth was trending on twitter.

It is believed that the rumor was rooted from a meme that invoked a stream of memes to be created. The memes are believed to relate to the Queen falling ill at the end of 2018 and missing Christmas day services. The royal family is very strict in terms of following certain traditions and customs, thus making the Queens absence noteworthy.

Senior Kellie Sartoris takes great interest in the royal family. Sartoris did not believe the rumor upon hearing it. She thinks that “A lot of drama involving the royal family is made for publicity. I think the rumor that Kate [Middleton]  and Meghan [Markle] hate each other is for attention too.” The rumor may not have been believed by Sartoris, but many people online were outraged after hearing that the death was a hoax.

There was a steady inflow of posts on social media expressing people’s anger and irritation. The recipients of this outrage were those that helped to spread the news of the Queen’s death. The original post was since deleted off of Reddit to avoid receiving backlash.

Although the royal family has refused to comment on this viral story, the Queen is alive and well. The end of her reign does not seem to be nearing. Queen Elizabeth has been sitting on the throne for 67 years and will continue to do so.