Queen Elizabeth II's Death

Overview

Queen Elizabeth II's Death refers to the passing of Queen Elizabeth II at 96 years old. On the morning of September 8th, 2022, it was announced that she was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen, Scotland after her doctors became concerned for her health. It was further reported that her children canceled scheduled events to rush to her side, suggesting she may be close to death. Later that day, her death was confirmed by the Royal Family. Online, the news was treated both with grave seriousness and jokes from commenters, with many related memes (such as Queen Elizabeth Is Immortal and There Is No Queen of England) also trending amid the Queen of England's death.

Background

On September 8th, 2022, Buckingham Palace^[2] released a statement announcing the Queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeen, Scotland. The BBC^[1] noted that it was highly unusual for Buckingham Palace to "provide commentary on the 96-year-old monarch's medical matters, which are seen as private." Furthermore, her children of royal family members were reported to have rushed to her side from around the U.K. Daily Mail's Royal editor, Rebecca English,^[3] remarked that the situation was "as grave as it gets" (shown below).

Developments

Multiple clues from the media gave the impression that the Queen may be close to death. On September 8th, 2022, The BBC suspended all of its regular programming until 6 p.m. while viewers noted that its commentators had begun changing into black attire.^[4] Reporter Rivkah Brown^[5] tweeted that workers in Parliament had received notices about Operation Marquee, the plan to have the Queen lie in state in Westminster.

Announcement of Queen's Death

At 1:30 p.m. EST on September 8th, 2022, the Royal Family^[10] announced on Twitter that the Queen had passed away. "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon," the account wrote. "The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow." The announcement tweet received over 1.9 million likes, 617,000 retweets and 241,000 quote tweets in four hours (seen below).

Online Reactions

Pre-death

After The Royal Family announced the Queen was in ill health on September 8th, 2022, some online treated the potential of the Queen's imminent death with grave seriousness. For example, Twitter user @b_judah^[6] warned against excessive revelry that same day, writing, "Americans are welcome to shitpost but they should be warned of intense depths of feelings here: it’s hard to explain but millions feel the Queen is their spiritual grandmother. It’s not like a dying President. But the passing of the chief saint of a still felt British religion." The tweet (shown below, left) was ratioed, gaining over 450 retweets next to 5,500 quote tweets making fun of it in less than 24 hours. Twitter user @IanDunt^[7] made a similar plea for restraint that same day, gaining over 810 retweets, 700 quote tweets and 11,000 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

Many reacted to the news with jokes about the Queen's imminent death. For example, Twitter user @roun_sa_ville^[8] wrote on September 8th, "Please be respectful when talking about the Queen. She was a head of state, a monarch, a mother to multiple pedophiles and most importantly a devoted cousin to her husband," gaining over 16,000 retweets and 102,000 likes in a matter of hours (shown below, left). Twitter user @bocxtop^[9] tweeted, "friendly reminder the queen won’t see your rude tweets but your friends who are also going to hell will," gaining over 300 retweets and 3,600 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

That same day, Twitter user @Akzyy posted a video from WWE showing The Undertaker rising from his coffin to choke Randy Orton, joking that they represented the Queen and Meghan Markle (shown below). The tweet gained over 42,000 retweets and 161,000 likes in less than six hours.

The Queen when Meghan Markle comes to say her goodbyes pic.twitter.com/KIH7Ns1oSS

— A🤾🏽‍♂️ (@Akzyy) September 8, 2022

Post-death

After her death was announced in the early afternoon on September 8th, 2022, the tenor of commentary largely remained the same, with many posting jokes and celebratory tweets about the Queen's death while others posted their sadness at her passing. Many users posted variations on the There Is No Queen Of England meme. For example, the Twitter account @RealYouTubeKids^[11] posted the image associated with the meme, gaining over 50 retweets and 420 likes in one hour (shown below, left). The same account^[12] posted a side-by-side photo of the Queen and XXXTentacion, gaining similar numbers in the same amount of time (shown below, right).

Terms like RIP BOZO trended on Twitter following her death as well. Twitter user @borgposting^[13] captured a moment on September 8th where the term was underneath news of the Queen's death on Twitter's trending page (shown below).

Related Memes

Ireland's Reaction to the Queen's Death

Ireland's Reaction to the Queen of England's Death refers to the general reaction from the Irish people on Irish Twitter when Queen Elizabeth II died in late 2022. Due to the long history of Irish oppression under the Queen's rule, the Irish humorously celebrated her passing by chanting "Lizzy's in a box" at a football match in Dublin, dancing to "Another One Bites The Dust" on TikTok or listening to Crab Rave which was made by Irish electronic music producer Noisestorm.

Queen Elizabeth Reincarnated as Trisha Paytas' Baby

Queen Elizabeth Reincarnated as Trisha Paytas' Baby refers to a series of memes joking that Queen Elizabeth II is being reincarnated as Trisha Paytas' baby, due to the closeness in time between Queen Elizabeth II's Death and Paytas beginning to go into labor. The first joke implying this was posted in February 2022 to TikTok and numerous memes making the joke were posted online on September 8th following the Queen's death.

Princess Diana vs. Queen Elizabeth in Afterlife

Princess Diana vs. Queen Elizabeth II in the Afterlife refers to a series that explores the concept of Princess Diana exacting revenge on Queen Elizabeth II, who, according to popular belief, mistreated her during her lifetime, in the afterlife. The memes gained viral popularity online immediately following Queen Elizabeth II's death in early September 2022.

Search Interest

External References