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Queen of England Death Predictions
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About
Queen of England Death Predictions refers to a series of jokes and memes based on an unsubstantiated prediction that Queen Elizabeth II would die on January 5th, 2019.
Origin
On December 26th, 2018, Redditor [1] beefy_cabbage posted an object labeling meme featuring the characters from the television show iCarly in the /r/me_irl subreddit. In the meme, one character is smacking another in the back with a stop sign. The person holding the stop sign is labeled January 5th, 2019, the stop sign is labeled "death" and the person being hit is labeled "the Queen of England." The post received more than 52,000 points (89% upvoted) and 7,200 comments (shown below).
Spread
Following the post, people began other jokes about the prediction. On December 27th, Redditor[2] ShiroHakane posted another object-labeled meme, blocking her death because "England would be sad." The post received more than 6,200 points (98% upvoted) and 85 comments (shown below, left).
That day, Redditor maybeillfigureitout asked the /r/OutOfTheLoop[5] subreddit about the meme. Redditor ninjaicecold answered:
"Its about a post made by u/beefy_cabbage on r/me_irl that the queen dies on 5th Jan 2019. That post blew up and redditors started making memes about the death of the Queen on jan 5th. This might probably be the first meme of 2019."
The following day, Redditor[3] That_Bleach posted a variation on the meme in the /r/dankmemes subreddit. The post received more than 5,300 points (98% upvoted) and 75 comments in 24 hours (shown below, center).
Additionally, on December 28th, Redditor[4] LuthAlex posted an image that read, "Don't be ridiculous! Queen Elizabeth is going to be okay. Please return to the CHUNGUS images and forget this whole January 5th affair." The post received more than 33,000 points ((88% upvoted) and 640 comments (shown below, right).
Chess Variations
On December 28th, Redditor[6] _kikikiwi_ posted an object-labeled image of a chessboard in which the horse-shaped knight piece is labeled "u/beefy_cabbage" and the queen piece is labeled the "Queen of England." In the image, the rook is positioned to take the Queen, referencing the death conspiracy theory. The post received more than 240 points (97% upvoted) and 20 comments (shown below).
Several days later, on December 29th, the same Redditor[7] posted an image of their post and another similar post, which they imply stole their idea. The post received more than 12,000 points (91% upvoted) and 190 comments (shown below, left).
On January 6th, 2019, Redditor[8] JacaDzaca posted another version of the meme, which uses a digital chessboard. In this version, the rook takes out another rook, referencing the coincidental death of the Queen of England's horse PH Keston.[9] The post received more than 22,000 points (93% upvoted) and 280 comments in 24 hours (shown below, right).
That day, Redditor[10] Aleksandrovitch asked about the chess memes in the /r/OutOfTheLoop subreddit.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[3] Reddit – Can we get an F for the queen
[5] Reddit – /r/OutOfTheLoop
[8] Reddit – We Will Get Her Next Time
[9] Vanity Fair – The Queen Has Said Goodbye to Another Royal Animal
[10] Reddit – What’s up with these chess memes?
Top Comments
poochyena
Dec 28, 2018 at 12:56PM EST
Enderfailer
Dec 28, 2018 at 12:54PM EST